


OQ Prompt Party Week

by ourheroregina



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-04 15:54:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 34,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14023614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ourheroregina/pseuds/ourheroregina
Summary: My entries for OQ Prompt Party Week





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the first day (Monday) I chose to write prompt No. 150. Regina finding out she’s pregnant and she gets scared of Robin’s reaction. But he’s very sweet about it and gets super happy.  
> I hope you like it!

For the first time since they’ve got to this terrible and creepy place, Regina feels at peace. Her demons have been hunting her, the faces of those she killed appearing in front of her at every blink, making her breath catch in her throat, making her heart clench from self-loathing and guilt.

However, right now she’s surrounded by silence – everyone is sleeping (her demons, too), resting in order to be ready for another day full of adventures and dangerous trips around the Underworld, - and that suffocating feeling is gone.

She feels safe in Robin’s embrace with her head rested on his chest, listening to his rhythmically beating heart. His arms are wrapped tightly around her, it seems that he can feel just how much this place makes her skin crawl, and he’s holding her, cocooning her in his warmth, protecting her from her own mind.

Regina sighs, nuzzling her cheek against his chest. It’s probably one of the most peaceful moments in their relationship – with Marian (or Zelena) being back, Emma becoming the  Dark One and Hook dying, they didn’t have much time for themselves.

They didn’t even have time to solve the huge problems hanging over them, didn’t even have time to decide what they wanted to do next and how they were going to deal with it.

It reminds Regina that there’s another problem, another huge problem which may tear everything they have apart. She forgave him for moving on with Marian, or Zelena, she forgave him for everything, she chose to open a new page and Robin promised to stay with her. He promised to never leave her.

But this can be too much.

The baby she’s carrying may be too much.

She’s been shocked when she found out (or rather when Granny congratulated her, insisting that the wolves always see the pregnant). Regina ignored all the pregnancy signals, after all, she was infertile, there was no reason to try and hope for something she didn’t even want in the first place.

It seems like time travels and magic over-use have unbalanced her body, made changes deep within her and her infertility curse was broken. She’s read books about it before, but she’s never believed that it could happen to her.

It did happen.

During the worst time imaginable: when her lover has a baby daughter with her sister, when her best friend’s boyfriend is dead, when her son in in the Underworld surrounded by those who his mother killed for fun.

Despite this, she’s pregnant. She’s carrying a baby under her heart and it’s too early to see it but she can already feel the fluttering in her belly, she can feel magic coursing through her veins; magic that is not hers, a different kind of magic that only a child can have.

It’s been almost two weeks since she’s found out about the very unexpected pregnancy. And she has to tell Robin, sooner rather than later.

Inhaling, Regina slowly untangles herself from Robin’s warm embrace (she immediately regrets her decision because the room is cool and the sheet covering them is not too thick). She rolls onto her back and Robin moves closer to her, lifts himself up on his elbow and looks her with those deep blue eyes.

Regina’s stomach clenches from anxiety.

Perhaps it’s better to wait…

There’s still time.

Trying to quiet the voices in her head, Regina wraps her arm around his neck and pulls him in for a kiss. It gives her a moment, a very needed moment to calm down her nerves, to settle down a bit.

Robin kisses her back immediately, one hand moving into Regina’s hair, the other supporting him up as he kisses her again and again, his warm body pressing against hers.

For a brief moment, she considers the idea of keeping her secret just to herself for a few more days and enjoying Robin’s kisses and warmth.

No.

She has to tell him. Now.

Regina forces herself to break the kiss and she’s panting for air as she looks at Robin’s happy face, as she watches him open his eyes and grin at her, breathless too. If she wasn’t so worried, she would tease him for getting all hot and bothered after a simple kiss.

Instead, she waits until her breathing is under control and then takes his hand in hers, guides it down until it rests on her lower belly. Robin smirks at that, he obviously has other ideas, and Regina would love nothing more than surrender to her own urges but her heart is drumming in her chest anxiously, and she swallows hard.

She’s afraid. Terrified even.

Robin wouldn’t mind a child, she knows, he adores children, but after everything what happened with Zelena, Regina thinks he might freak out. He might not be ready for this again.

She’s sure he _is not_ ready for that.

She’s terrified that this pregnancy will only bring him anger, frustration and pain instead of joy he would have felt before Zelena.

Robin must have sensed the change in Regina’s mood because the smirk has fallen from his face and now he’s looking at her carefully, brow furrowed in confusion. He pulls his hand away from her stomach and opens his mouth to say something but Regina quickly presses it back and stares into his eyes, wordlessly asking him to wait, to wait and feel the magic.

He doesn’t move his eyes from her, only frowns and stays still.

She bites her lip nervously, and tightens her hand over his, moves it back and forth a bit, back and forth over her still flat stomach until they feel a flutter of magic.

Robin gasps and pulls his hand away immediately, looking at Regina with wide surprised eyes. His mouth opens in surprise as he struggles to speak, but she shakes her head, whispers _Don’t say anything,_ afraid that if he says it out loud, Hades will find out and this pregnancy will end too soon.

Robin presses his palm against her belly again, and when he feels another flutter, he swallows hard.

Regina’s breath is stuck in her throat, her hands shaking at her sides as she stares at Robin’s face, gauging every reaction, trying to understand just what he’s feeling.

All of a sudden, his face breaks into a smile as he chuckles quietly, his eyes shining. A single tear rolls his cheek as he smiles at her and presses his lips against hers quickly over and over again taking Regina by surprise.

She wasn’t expecting that.

When he finally pulls away from her, the smile is still on his face, and he bites his lip, struggling to keep his emotions under control.

Regina lets out a sigh of relief, her own eyes filling with unexpected tears as she puts her palms on his cheeks and makes him look at her, asks, “Are you happy?”

“Of course I am!” He whispers as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “How could I not be?”

Regina swallows hard, a smile disappearing from her face as she remembers just how confused and angry he was when he found out about Zelena and what she’s done to him, how she tricked him, how she used him. She remembers what he’s said back then.

And Robin must remember it too, because he becomes serious for a moment.

“I know the timing is not the best,” he says, making Regina look at him again, “but it is a miracle. The best miracle I could ever hope for.”

A huge smile spreads across his face then as he puts his hand over her stomach again and moves it until he gets a fluttering in response. His smile only widens, and he leans over and kisses Regina again, again and again.

When they finally settle down to sleep after hours of kissing and whispering about the future that is so unsure, Robin rests his hand over her belly protectively, nuzzling his nose in her hair as he whispers, “We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

Regina rests her hand on his and nods in agreement.

She couldn’t agree more.

 


	2. Day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the second day (tuesday) of OQ Prompt Party I chose prompt No. 169. Regina is the dark one and Robin has the dagger.

Inhaling sharply, Robin pushes the key into the door, unlocking it slowly and quietly, hoping that quietness will soothe his worry and give him time to collect himself; hoping that at it will soothe a lost soul locked up in there.

He takes another moment to breathe and then pushes the door of Regina’s vault open and steps inside, unsure of what is waiting for him (last time he came here, she met him with a knife in her hands, threatening to end his miserable life if he doesn’t let her go).

Thankfully, he’d had the dagger, the Dark One’s dagger with himself, Regina’s name now imprinted on the gold metal. He would be dead, Robin thinks, if he hadn‘t had that damned dagger.

From the moment Regina was surrounded by darkness, she‘s been gone. One moment she was looking at him with tearful eyes, probably realizing what fate was awaiting for her, and the other the Evil Queen was standing in front of them, darkness radiating off of her soul.

It‘s Robin fault, in a way, that she didn‘t fight, that she gave into the darkness so easily. If he hadn‘t screwed up, if Zelena wasn‘t carrying his child, Regina could have fought back, she would have fought back. He knows.

But she‘s been angry and hurt, her heart broken again, even though she‘d smiled and took his hand, walked in the moonlight, pretending that she was fine. She‘s been so conflicted that there was no fight. She just blinked her eyes and was consumed by darkness.

And then the fun began.

The first person she tried to kill was Zelena, of course. Then it was Snow White and David. Emma and Captain Hook also made it into the list. Then it was Robin’s time. And he knew she would come for him, she had made it clear that she’ll end everyone who has ever hurt her and to be honest, Robin was pretty sure he was on top of that list.

And she came for him. She’s shouted into his face that he’s never ever going to hurt her again, and then her hand was in his chest, and his heart was pulled out. She’s grinned at him wickedly, squeezing the organ as her eyes burned from madness. He was saved by Henry who had accidentally walked in on the scene (he and Roland were the only people Regina hasn’t tried to kill). Whenever she saw her son, she would disappear, vanish in a bubble of purple leaving her victim breathless but still alive.

After this incident, Henry had admitted that he had Regina’s dagger. She’d given it to him and asked him to protect it, not to let anyone know about it (Regina loves her son, she really does, but that one time she manipulated him), but the teenager was so worried about his mother, he couldn’t keep it a secret anymore.

Since then Regina’s been locked in her own vault, her magic bound by a handcuff on her wrist. It pains Robin to see her like this: powerless, angry and vulnerable, but he has to remind himself that it is for her own good, that they’re doing this to protect her from herself.

Once they know how to bring _her_ back, they’ll do. Until then, though she’ll stay where she is.

Swallowing hard, Robin walks down the stairs and opens another door of the cell where they’ve left Regina the last time. Surprisingly, she’s still there, sleeping peacefully on the bed Emma created with her magic.

She’s dressed in black, his Regina, the same black dress he’s seen her in the last time. Her long hair has fallen out of her bun, and now some of them are sprawled over the pillow, her eyes black all around from the heavy make-up she’s put the last time she’s had her magic. She looks regal, scary even in her sleep.

But he knows _Regina_ is in there, somewhere under this mask, he knows that she can fight the darkness and return to herself.

She shifts a bit in her sleep, curling into a ball, and Robin swallows hard, wishes he could just walk up to her and kiss her, hug her and assure her that it will be fine, that they’ll be fine; that they’ll find a way to fix this.

Yet he knows once she’s awake, she’ll threaten to kill him or someone else again, she’ll make a show until he’ll be forced to use her dagger, to control her against her own will.

And he doesn't want to do that. He really doesn't want to.

He will, though. If he has to protect her from herself, he will use it. He'll not let her kill any more people.

He’ll not let her hurt herself even more than she already has.

“Get out,” a sleepy and rather calm voice snaps him out of his mind.

Robin turns his head down to look to bed immediately and finds Regina awake, her dark chocolate eyes opened now, no trace of sleep, as she stares directly at him with so much hatred, it makes his heart clench.

“Regina-“

“I said get out!” she repeats, her voice still calm but she’s getting angry.  “You are the reason why I am here! You’re the reason why I’m powerless now!” She spats out as she sits up, her eyes burning holes in his soul.

Robin is certain if she had her magic, she would be throwing fireballs at him by now.

“You know it’s for the best,” Robin says, stretching his hand out to touch her but she moves back, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth.

“I hate you!” She exclaims, and Robin has to remind himself that it is not Regina, it’s not the Evil Queen but the darkness. But, to be honest, he hates himself too, for hurting her, for breaking her heart the way he did. “I wish I have never met you! I wish Henry had never walked into that room and saved you!” She hisses, narrowing her eyes. “I still dream about your weak heart in my palm, thief. Every time I close my eyes, I think about ending your miserable life. And I will. Trust me. Once I’m free, you’ll be the first,” she states, and Robin should be afraid, he really should, but he’s not.

Swallowing hard, Robin tells her, “I’ll save you, Regina. We’ll find a way.”

She laughs at him, disbelieving and he doesn’t argue with her. He just looks at her one more time, before he turns around and walks out of the cell before she’s said something more, before she’s hurt him or herself even more.

 She’s shouting something after him, something about how much she hates him, but Robin doesn’t listen, instead he keeps repeating to himself that he’ll save her.

He’ll save her and bring her home.

And she’ll be herself again.

He will bring her back even if it will be the last thing he does.

With that thought, Robin walks out of the vault and goes to meet with Emma hoping that the Savior has figured out how to save his soulmate.


	3. Day 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the third day of OQ Prompt Party Week, I chose to write prompt No. 23: Regina feels burdened by the guilt of all the people she has murdered. Robin supports her with this

Robin stops listening to whatever David is saying as soon as his eyes catch Regina in the doorway. She’s walking rather fast towards them with Henry and Mary Margaret following after her, both saying her name repeatedly, trying to make her stop but she doesn’t listen to them, she just keeps walking.

Robin frowns, confused.

What did happen now?

Regina storms right past him and walks into the bathroom, shuts the door behind herself without even as much as glancing at his direction. Robin’s frown only deepens as he turns to look at a very worried Snow White and Henry who are now standing beside David.

He looks from son to the former enemy, wordlessly asking what happened.

“We met someone,” Henry says first, glancing at Mary Margaret nervously before turning back to Robin and inhaling deeply,“And by someone I mean people she killed. A lot of them.”

Robin swallows hard, but doesn’t say anything. They’ve talked about this, Regina and Robin,they’ve talked about the huge possibility of meeting those she harmed in the Underworld. She’s told him that those faces have been haunting her for a while, and that seeing them in reality might be… too much.

They’ve managed to escape walking into those faces for a few days.

However, today things have changed. It seems that she’s seen them, after all, and that it was too much, just as she feared it would be.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Robin says quickly and Mary Margaret starts to say something about Regina asking for some time alone but he does not need the Princess’ approval so he turns on his heel and walks to the small bathroom of Charming’s apartment in the Underworld.

He exhales in relief when he turns down the knob and finds the door unlocked. Quickly he walks in and closes the door behind himself, locking it so nobody bothers them. He then looks at Regina, who’s standing in front of a mirror, staring at her own reflection. Her breathing is coming out in puffs, her eyes teary as she blinks ever so slowly, her hands shaking against the sink.

“Regina,” Robin calls her name quietly, not wanting to startle her.

She doesn’t acknowledge his presence so Robin takes a step closer to her. She likes to be left alone in moments like this, it wouldn’t be the first time she’s asked him to step aside and just let her breath. But Robin still has to try.

He touches her hand lightly, testily. Her hand tenses for a moment and he’s about to apologize and tell her that he’ll be waiting for her outside when she’s ready but she sighs and closes her eyes before turning to look at him.

“I’ve killed so many innocent people,” she whispers, staring straight into his eyes, her voice mechanic. Robin tenses; he knows too well what she’s doing and he’ll be damned if he lets her torture herself like this. “I should be here suffering, not them,” she adds quietly, turning away from him, ashamed of herself.

Robin shakes his head and squeezes her hand, says, “I wouldn’t agree that they were innocent. If they were, they wouldn’t be here now.”

It doesn’t seem to make Regina feel any better because she just blinks her eyes as if she hasn’t even heard him and whispers, “I’ve killed so many people, Robin, and ruined so many lives. What’s the difference if they were good or bad.” Robin opens his mouth to disagree but Regina continues, not looking at him, “I’ve killed most of them with my own bare hands and my own black magic.” She spits out, her words laced with anger and self-loathing.

Robin swallows hard and takes another step closer to her.

“I don’t understand who I was trying to fool when I said I’ve changed. People like me do not change,” she whispers quietly when Robin puts his palm on her cheek, making her look at him.

Robin shakes his head, “You’ve come a long way, Regina. You’ve struggled so much and you have changed.”

This time it is Regina shaking her head, tears filling her eyes from hatred for herself. She’s guarded now, though, so she presses her lips in a thin line and blinks the tears away, not letting a single drop roll down her cheek.

“You became better for Henry and your family,” Robin insists and Regina opens her mouth to protest but he’s having none of that, instead he takes her hand in his and turns her to face him completely, then continues, “You’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past. And you’ve more than learnt from them. You’re not _that_ person anymore.”

“Robin, I-“ she starts, shaking her head as if she’s trying to shake his words off. She closes her eyes and just breathes for a moment before looking at him again, her beautiful dark eyes shining with unshed tears again. “I just want to get out of here. I just want to forget about it.” She whispers.

“We _will_ get out of here,” he promises.

An image of a tombstone with her name written on it flashes through his mind and he swallows hard, before pulling her closer. She goes willingly and wraps her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. One of Robin’s hands rests on her lower back, the other cupping the back of her head as he sways them back and forth slowly, trying to soothe Regina’s demons.

“We’ll get out of here soon,” he whispers one more time, this time more to himself than to her and Regina hums in agreement.

Her arms only tighten around him, and Robin closes his eyes, inhales her scent and holds her close, hopes that it will calm her, make her feel better.

When they pull away from each other, she’s looking at him with determination in her eyes , and he knows that their moment is over, he knows that _the_ Regina Mills he’s met in the Enchanted forest will take the lead from now on in order to protect herself.

“Let’s go. Henry must be waiting for us,” Regina says, her voice strong, no trace of emotions so evident just seconds ago. Her posture changes for a moment as she inhales shakily but then she straightens again and walks past him and out of the bathroom, telling to Henry that they can go to look for Emma and Hook now.

Robin just sighs and follows her, hoping that she’ll be alright; hoping that she’ll save herself from her own mind.  



	4. Day 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the fourth day of OQ Prompt Party Week I chose to write prompt No. 206.Roland follows an injured puppy and gets lost, Robin/Regina find them huddled together for warmth.

Regina lifts her head up, annoyed, when she hears the door of her office being opened without a knock. She’s said time and time again that she doesn’t like to be intruded when she’s working but it seems whoever it is, doesn’t care about her wishes.  
  
However, when a very worried Robin storms in, Regina’s frustration fades away immediately.  
  
“What happened?” She asks, standing up from behind her desk, reports of the new town playground long forgotten as her heart starts beating faster and faster in her chest, horrific thoughts invading her mind.  
  
“Roland’s gone!” Robin exclaims as he walks up to Regina and she gasps in shock. Robin’s face twists in a grimace as he says, “He’s asked me to go to the camp yesterday and I told him that he needs to go to school first. He was angry and… and Mary Margaret says that this morning, after I dropped him off to school, he never came. So I assumed he was with the Merry Men. But he’s not showed up there either!”

His hands fall to his sides in desperation and Regina‘s own starts to shake, but she forces herself to stay calm and think rationaly for the both of them – Robin obviously isn‘t capable of doing any of that at the moment.  
  
“Alright. Let’s not freak out,” she says as calmly as possible but it only makes Robin more angry.  
  
“Let’s not freak out?! My son’s been gone half the day, Regina!” He exclaims again, desperately running his hands through his hair, his breath labored. “What, if something happened to him? What, if another enemy is in town and kidnapped him?”  
  
“No, Robin,” this time it is Regina raising her voice as she shakes her head. “The town is protected, it is safe now.” She insists as she rounds the desk and comes to stand with him. “We’ll find him. I promise you. Maybe he‘s just playing somewhere,” she tells him, holding his hand tightly in hers, looking straight into his eyes, hoping it will help him.

It seems to work because Robin breathes more easily, and for a moment he sits down on the couch, putting his head in his hands, but his breathing is still heavy. Regina sits down beside him immediately and wraps her arms around him, holding him, her own heart druming in her chest from unknown and anxiousness.

“Please, come with me. Help me find him,” Robin asks and Regina nods her head without hesitation; as if she could stay here and continue her work with the knowledge that Roland is gone.  
  
“Do you have his things?” She asks, and Robin nods his head, pulls out Roland’s gloves from the pocket of his coat. He must have come here with hope that the location spell will help them.  
  
Regina takes these little green gloves from Robin and waves her hand over them. They glow purple and then are moving away, and Regina quickly puts on her coat before taking Robin’s hand in hers, smiling at him in assurance. They hurry out of the office, not even bothering to lock the door.

The magic leads them the main street of Storybrooke and towards the forest, and Robin’s hand only tightens around Regina’s, and she assures him again and again that they’ll find Roland safe and sound.  
  
They end up at the park, where months ago Roland was feeding ducks with the fake Marian as Robin told Regina he’s choosing her. Regina swallows hard at the memory – she tries to forget these months of their lives.

The weather is rather cold these days so it‘s no surprise that they find it empty, all the benches blank, no sounds of people or any other creature can be heard. But the gloves have stopped moving and Roland must be somewhere here, so Regina takes another look around, scanning every inch of the park.

And then she sees him.

On the bench near the pond is a very huge and bright green ball and she‘s certain that this ball belongs to Roland‘s cap. She shows it to Robin, motioning to the bench and before she knows it, he‘s running towards the pond, dragging Regina along with himself.

Indeed, it is Roland, curled on the bench, sleeping peacefully as if he’s in his room and his own very soft bed.  
  
Robin exhales in relief as he knees before the bench, pulling the sleeping Roland into his arms, tears filling his eyes. He’s told Regina that he will never ever let Roland leave the house, that the boy will be grounded for sneaking away until the end of his life, but now it seems that all Robin’s anger is gone and all he feels is relief.

Regina shares that feeling.  
  
“Papa?” Roland asks sleepily, probably awakened by his father’s embrace and the smell of forest that still lingers on him despite the fact that he hasn’t lived in a forest for months now.  
  
“Roland, you scared me so much” he whispers, holding his son close to his chest, his face filled with relief. “Baby, what are you doing here?” Robin asks, not letting go of Roland.  
  
“Puppy!” The boy exclaims, making Regina and Robin frown in confusion, and then he’s pulling away from Robin and looking to his side. Curiously Regina looks there, too, and notices a bundle of brown fur, a brown fur that moves.

“A puppy?” Robin asks, raising his eyebrow in surprise, before looking down to the puppy himself. A small smile edges onto his lips as he strokes the animal’s back. “Is he your friend, Roland?” Robin asks, scratching the dog’s head.  
  
Roland nods his head, confirms, “She was injured and I had to take care of her!” Robin smiles at that, a proud smile of a father, and Regina cannot help but smile too. “I knew that Regina wouldn’t let us keep her so I wanted to stay with her just a little bit longer,” Roland says, making Robin glance at Regina, the teasing sparkle back in his eyes now that his son is safe and right in front of him.  
  
Regina swallows hard, and makes, probably, the most stupid decision in her life as she kneels beside Robin in front of a bench. She looks straight into Roland’s eyes when she says, “We can keep the puppy until it is healed if you promise me to never ever scare us like that again.”  
  
Roland lets out an excited squeal at that, his eyes filled with joy, and throws himself into Regina’s embrace, his little arms wrapping tightly around her neck.  
  
"You’re the best, Regina!” He exclaims before pulling away from her and turning to the puppy that’s now looking at them with her little head turned a bit to the side as if in curiosity. “We’re going home, puppy!” Roland tells her happily, before turning to Regina again, smiling and showing her those dimples she loves so much.  
  
Robin smiles too and pulls Regina into a quick kiss, whispering a thank you before he’s standing up and helping Roland to hop off of the bench, a puppy held protectively in his little arms.  
  
Only for a few days, Regina reminds both father and son when they return home and the boys smile at her, assure her that they’ll keep the puppy only until she’s healed and then they’ll find her a new home.  
  
The puppy never leaves


	5. Day 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the fifth day I chose prompt No. 24. Cora tries to separate Robin and Regina.

Regina’s running like she has never ran before. Her long, cumbersome dress makes her slower than she would like, makes it hard for her to breathe properly, but the young woman doesn’t stop. She does not have time to stop.

She’s already out of time.

Pushed by that thought, Regina only runs faster.

When she finally reaches the stables, she’s out of breath, sweat running down her forehead, her hair curled at her temples. Dismissingly she wipes the strands of hair off of her face, her hands shaking from the lack of oxygen.

She doesn’t look like a princess she’s supposed to be, but she couldn’t care less at the moment. Nothing matters now when everything is collapsing around her, when her whole life is being taken away from her by her cruel mother and that insane need to make Regina a queen.

Feeling unsteady, Regina leans against the fence in the stables, her hand falls over her rapidly beating heart. Still panting for air, she takes a look around, her eyes desperately searching for _him_ , but he’s nowhere to be seen, and she’s anxious, so damn anxious that her mother will find her and ruin her life.

So Regina inhales deeply and calls his name loudly, her voice echoing in the distance.

It’s a bold move to call for her lover like that, her mother could easily hear it and then he would be taken away from her in a blink, his life ruined. But Regina has no time to worry about it because they’ll be separated anyway if she doesn’t find him right now.

She hears rushed footsteps from behind herself and her heart starts beating faster, her whole body tensing as she turns around slowly, afraid of who she’s going to see. Her face breaks into a small smile as a breath of relief whooshes out of her when she sees him running towards her from the other side of the stables.

He’s confused, he obviously didn’t expect to see her so soon (they’ve seen each other just this afternoon, spent a few hours riding and kissing under the apple tree), but he smiles when Regina throws herself into his embrace, wraps her arms tightly around his waist and buries her face into his chest.

He smells like forest, her lover. From the day they’ve met for the first time it became her favorite smell.

He holds her in his arms for a moment or two (she’s not sure for time with him flies too quickly) and then he’s pulling away from her, his hands on her shoulders as he searches for her eyes. Unwillingly, Regina lets their eyes meet, tears blurring her vision as she stares at his face, too afraid it is the last time they are together.

His blue gaze is piercing right through her soul, and she inhales shakily, tightening her hands on his. She loves him so much, this wonderful young man who works in their stables, who works for her cruel mother just so he can see Regina. She loves him, because he understands her, because he loves her just as much as she loves him.

Even the thought of a life without him makes a few tears roll down her cheeks.

“Milady,” Robin whispers, surprised by the sudden tears, and lifts his hand up to cup her cheek. He wipes the tears with his thumb and lifts her face up a bit until she’s looking into his eyes again. “Regina, what happened?”

She stares into his eyes for a moment, taken away by their depth. She would like nothing more than to gaze into the blue orbs forever.

And then she remembers what she’s doing here, and her heart starts drumming in her chest again. She blinks her eyes and looks away from him, pulls herself out of her dreams and forces herself to face the cruel reality.

“We need to run,” Regina finally blurts out. The image of an old king appears in front of her eyes again, making a shiver run down her body. She shakes her head as if trying to shake off the horrible idea that she’s going to become his wife and tries to focus on Robin instead.

“What? Regina, what happened?” he asks, his eyes wide and confused.

“King Leopold proposed to me. Mother accepted it,” the words rush out of her, and her hands start shaking – when she’s said it out loud, it seems even more real, even scarier. “We need to run away,” she insists, taking Robin’s hand in her own and tugging a bit to get him moving.

But Robin seems to be too stunned to move.

Just this morning they were joking that she’ll have to turn down all proposals from every noble man in this land and accept the one from the stable boy. They were joking that he’ll not have enough money to buy a ring, but it wouldn’t matter, Regina would accept his proposal anyway.

And now only a few hours later the proposal from a noble man really happened and it wasn’t turned down. It was accepted with a promise to make it happen as soon as possible – preferably the next week.

Regina shivers at the thought.

These thoughts make her tug on Robin’s hand harder because they really, really need to run, now, before her mother figured out that Regina is gone.

All of a sudden Regina feel Robin’s hand tightening around her own and when she looks at him again, his eyes are wide. She tugs him one more time, but he doesn’t move, not even an inch, he just keeps looking over Regina’s shoulder, somewhere in the distance, his face a grimace that she doesn’t understand.

Huffing, Regina turns around.

“Mother!” She gasps in surprise, her whole body tensing at the sight of Cora standing right behind her for Gods know how long. She’s looking at them in disgust, and Regina wouldn’t have expected anything else – after all, she got herself into the affair with a stable boy, a peasant, but Regina has never cared about that; all she cared about was Robin’s good heart and love they feel for each other.

Cora takes one step closer towards them and Regina steps back unconsciously, her hand tightening around Robin’s.

 “Regina, would you like to explain what is happening here?” Cora asks, her voice low and threatening, motioning towards Regina and Robin’s joined hands.

Regina opens her mouth ready to fight but nothing comes out.  She feels her heart trying to jump out of her chest, her hands shaking as Mother takes another step towards them, her eyes glowing with her dark magic.

“I- I love him,” Regina finally blurts out, the most stupid thing she could think of. “I… I don’t want to marry the King. I want to be happy. With him.” She wants to make it sound like a statement but her voice is shaking so much, it sounds more like a plea for mercy.

She’s seen Cora pull out hearts and crush them when she was just a kid. First, it was her friend from the village, then it was her favorite maid who let Regina ride a horse until late evening. Mother destroyed everyone she’s ever loved.

So when Cora takes another step closer towards them, Regina’s hand instantly falls on Robin’s chest, right over his heart and her mother grins in victory.

“Now, my dear, take a step aside,” she says, her voice calm but there’s so much anger behind the calm façade.

“No!” Regina exclaims. “I’ll not let you kill him!”

“I’m not asking for permission,” Cora spats out and grabs Regina by her wrist, pushes her to the side of the stables, away from Robin, with the force of magic. All of a sudden Regina’s tied to the wall, hard magic ropes wrapped around her wrists as her mother walks up to Robin.

Robin doesn’t even have time to react before Cora pushes her hand into his chest and pulls out of the  glowing, bright red heart. He gasps when he sees his own hard, and he turns to Regina, mouth opened in shock.

“I’ll do everything you want, Mother. I’ll marry the King.” Regina says, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible. Her heart is beating rapidly in her chest, her vision blurred from tears, but she keeps talking. She’s not going to let him die. “I’ll marry the King. I’ll be the Queen. I’ll do everything, Mother, just let him go.”

For a moment Cora stares at Regina and her face breaks into a satisfied grin. Regina thinks that she’s succeeded, and she almost sighs in relief but then Cora’s hand closes around Robin’s heart and he disappears in a cloud of white.

(…)

Regina huffs in frustration as she waves her hand in the air, the mirror in front of her turning into aches. Snow managed to escape one more time, that damned girl, but Regina will catch her, she will find that her and make her pay for everything.

When she hears a quiet knock on the door she growls in anger. The black knights let her down on a daily basis, and they should pay for their mistakes, they should be taught a lesson. Perhaps she should kill them all.

“Your Majesty,” a knight walks into Regina’s chambers and bows down in front of her. “We caught a thief in your garden,” he announces making the Queen grin – she’ll spare her knights lives but she’ll definitely have fun killing the thief.

The thought of it makes adrenaline rush through her body, and she smiles to herself, motioning for the knight to leave the chambers.

(…)

“And what do we have here?” Regina asks as she walks into the courtroom where the knights have brought the thief. The prisoner is pressed against the ground, his clothes torn apart and bloody. Her soldiers pull him from the ground harshly when her voice echoes through the room and make him stand.

“Who are you, thief?” Regina asks, but she’s already turning around, and inhaling deeply, ready to kill.

“Robin Hood.”

The hand that’s been lifted up in the air drops to Regina side as she turns around, eyes wide in disbelief.

She knows that voice. She would recognize that voice anywhere, anytime, the voice which could calm her down when she was feeling unsafe, the voice that chased away darkness from her still innocent soul, the voice that told her ‘I love you’ for the very first time.

“Robin Hood?” she repeats and forcers herself not to tremble as she approaches him.

She touches her chin and lifts his bloody face up until his blue eyes meet her dark one. Her heart clenches as she looks at him, as she looks to the man she used to love, to the man she still loves even after all those years of thinking he’s dead.

Her eyes fill as she takes a step back, her whole body starting to shake. It’s Robin. It is _her_ Robin.

But it seems that he doesn’t remember her because he’s looking at her with empty eyes, no trace of emotion.

He doesn’t remember her, she realizes. He doesn’t know her.

Regina immediately takes another step back, her hand which only moments ago tried to touch his cheek now is pressed against her chest tightly as she blinks away her tears, as she pushes those wonderful but painful memories to the back of her head.

Robin is alive. He’s alive but dead at the same time.

Swallowing hard over the lump in her throat, Regina straightens, her eyes darkening as she mentally pushes the young Regina away, letting the Evil Queen take the lead; letting the Evil Queen protect her from the pain.

 “Let him go,” She demands in a dismissive tone and turns around on her heel. She can feel the black knights waiting, they’re probably confused by the Queen’s order for they always kill the person they arrest, but then she hears then shouting on him, on her Robin of Locksley, to leave the castle before the Queen changed her mind.

But the Queen would never change her mind, Regina thinks bitterly, she would never ever change her mind for the man she loves.

 


	6. Day 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the sixth day I chose prompt No. 44. Robin is thrown through the time portal and meets young teenage Regina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nice reading!

From a very young age, Robin’s been told by his mother that his curiosity will get him into a huge trouble. And she was right. He got into trouble on a daily basis, time and time again, suffering punishments and healing wounds after.

It was supposed to teach him a lesson, to make him more careful but it didn’t.

Even now, after decades of life and its lessons, he hasn’t learnt from his past mistakes. When he heard a strange noise in the farmhouse, his curiosity has won over again and he went to see what was happening in there. Before he knew it, he was falling through the portal.

He’s ended up in the Enchanted Forest, he’s sure. He would recognize those trees  and those paths he’s walking down year after year anytime.

Sighing, Robin thanks his lucky star that he’s left Roland with Regina; at least he knows his son will be safe and sound until he figures out his way back to Storybrooke.

He takes a look around, and the green of the forest makes him smile despite this whole situation, makes his inhale deeply the scent of the trees. As he does so, he lets his head fall back, his eyes closing when Sun blinds him, and for a moment he feels so contended.

He’s missed it.

He’s missed it more than he cares to admit.   
  
When Robin opens his eyes again, the contentment fades away, his brow furrowing as he starts to wonder just how the hell he’s supposed to go back.

He knows this forest like the back of his hand, he knows he’s not too far away from the Merry Men’s last camp. They’ve left some things hidden in there (they needed a back-up plan in case the Queen changed her mind and thrown them out of her castle) and if he’s lucky, those things will help him to survive until he figures a way back home.   
  
With that thought in mind, Robin starts walking further into the woods carefully, scanning the whole territory with his eyes.

Gods, he wishes he’s had his bow and arrows.

All of a sudden he’s startled by a scream in a distance. It makes him turn around quickly towards the source of the sound, his eyes bewildered. He sees a figure running towards him and then he’s hit by something, his vision becoming blurred as he falls to the ground.   
  
His head collides with the grass rather hard and he groans, his hand immediately moving to the back of his skull, his eyes squeezing shut in pain. As if it wasn’t enough, something or rather someone falls on top of him, gasping, hitting him right in the ribs with an elbow.

Robin groans again but fights through the ache in his head and ribs and forces himself to open his eyes and see just who he had a pleasure to meet – after all, everybody could be good help right now.

“Regina!” He exclaims, his hands immediately moving from the back of his head to touch her and he touches her arm, narrowing his eyes so his vision becomes less blurred.

It’s really Regina!  
  
She doesn’t share Robin’s excitement though, because her whole body tenses at Robin’s touch, and she flinches, struggles to get away from him quickly, accidentally (or maybe not so accidentally) jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow one more time.   
  
Robin groans again, his face twisting from the pain.

Her eyes are wide and fearful even as she struggles to get up and away from him, spilling not sincere apologies. But Robin is so confused, he doesn’t plan on letting her go so quickly without figuring out why she doesn’t remember him, so he grabs her wrist to stop her from running away and looks at her.

And then realization hits him.

It is not _Regina._

It is her younger version.

He was so surprised to see her, he didn’t even notice that her hair is much longer, falling past her shoulders, he didn’t notice that there’s no scar over her lip, that her face looks so young and pale, and her eyes, those eyes he loves to gaze into so much are just a little bit lighter.

Shit.

He fell through not just some portal. He traveled through the time portal back in time.

Bloody hell!

Robin is brought back to reality when she feels Regina struggling to get away from him and he releases his hold immediately, lets her pull away from him.

“Apologies, milady,” he lets out, still stunned by what he’s figured out.

She doesn’t acknowledge his apology, only lifts her skirts up from under her feet and tries to get up. Once she’s standing, she glances over her shoulder, inhales shakily and then starts running.

Robin reacts quickly, he doesn’t want to let her go yet. So he starts running after her, and she looks over her shoulder at him, her breathing labored as she tries to get away from him. But her skirts are heavy, and she’s tired if the black circles under her eyes are any indication, and Robin catches up with her in no time, blocking her way, stopping her.

“What do you want from me?” she asks, panting, her eyes wide and fearful.

Robin swallows hard as he looks at the girl in front of him. He’s seen Regina being afraid, has seen her shoulders shake from fear as the Wicked Witch played with her mind or when she’s heard the news (fake news, thank Gods), that her son is dead. But he’s never seen her like this, he’s never seen her this young and innocent and afraid, and powerless.

Regina’s voice comes into his mind and he remembers her telling him a story about how she tried to run away this one time and almost succeeded. Her marriage with the King was already arranged and she ran away from his castle after her meeting with her future husband.

And Robin is certain it is this moment.

So he tells her the first thing that comes into his mind, “I’m a thief, milady. And you’re obviously running away. I can help you.”

Regina only narrows her eyes at him, and stares at him doubtfully. He must look like an alien to her, he realizes, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He curses mentally at that, it will definitely not make her trust him more.   
  
But he wants to help her, he really does, because he knows how this escape is going to end if he lets her go. He knows that her mother will find her and lock her up in her chambers until her wedding day, and Robin will not let that happen.

“I can help you,” he insists again, lifting his hands up in front of himself, letting her know that he means no harm as he takes a step closer to her. “I just want to help you.”

“Why?”

Robin smiles at that, and says the first lie that comes into his mind for explaining that he’s her future lover would be much trickier.

“I’m a noble who ran away, too. I know how to survive in the forest and live without anyone noticing.”  
  
"I'm not running away," she states, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

Robin’s smile only widens a bit as he insists again, “Regina, let me help you.”  
  
For a moment she just looks at him, her face giving away her doubts, her brow furrowed, white teeth biting her lower lip. She's considering his offer, she really is, and Robin feels his heart starting to beat faster.  
  
"Fine," she finally agrees, "But trust me, I know how to fight and if you try to hurt me, I'll kick you," she tells him sternly, defensive as always, and Robin chuckles and promises she'll not have to do that.   
  
(…)

He decides to bring her  the Sherwood forest. He’s always found it the safest place of all. Regina will be save there, and he’ll teach her how to shoot an arrow and how to fight, how to find food and how to live like a bandit. He’ll teach her how to survive.   
  
“How did you know my name?” Regina’s voice makes Robin return back to the present and he turns his head to the side so he can look at her.  
  
"Would you believe me, if I told you I knew you?" He asks, and she narrows her eyes at him, shakes her head. "You're a Mills, of course I know you," he tells her then and she sighs.   
  
"Usually people don't recognize me," she says, and he feels his chest tightening for he’s aware of how it makes her feel, he knows how it will make her feel later in the future when she'll be the Queen and people will not recognize her until the Evil Queen will be born.

But it won’t happen to this Regina. Robin will save her, he’ll help her escape and she’ll not suffer, she’ll not become the Evil Queen.   
  
"It's a good thing that people doesn’t recognize you, isn't it?" Robin asks, trying to keep the mood lighter, "it will be easier to escape."   
  
"I suppose you're right." She tells him and turns away from him, blinking her eyes repeatedly as a tear falls down her cheek.   
  
(...)   
  
When they reach the edge of the forest, it is already getting dark outside. The air is chilly and whenever Robin glances over his shoulder to look at Regina, he finds her trembling, her arms crossed over her chest to keep herself warm.

“I think we should settle for the night,” Regina states when Robin turn to look at her again.

He nods his head in agreement; his own skin is covered in goose-bumps and he can barely keep his eyes opened – it seems like traveling through time drains a lot of your energy.

They decide to settle down in the old campsite, and Robin lights up the fire to keep them warm. It’s not the best choice to stay here in the open with wolves and all kinds of creatures roaming around but they have no choice so he sits down on the cold ground in front of the fire and Regina does the same and leans against the tree, her eyes closing almost immediately despite her fighting to keep them open.

Robin smiles at that and tells her that she can rest, he’ll make sure she’s safe.

His words have her eyes opening and she tries to glare at him doubtfully when all of a sudden a smoke of purple surrounds them. Regina lets out a panicked gasp from beside him, probably thinking of her mother, while Robin doesn’t even react for he recognizes this kind of magic with his body and soul.

He’s that accustomed to Regina’s magic now.

When the smoke fades away, _his_ Regina is standing there in front of him, still dressed in the same red dress she was wearing this morning, her expression alarmed. Once she sees him, she lets out a surprised, “Robin!” and throws herself into his arms.

His arms are wrapped around her instantly, holding her close, inhaling her scent. Gods, it’s been only a day and technically she’s been with him all the time (well, not her, but her other version), but he’s missed her terribly.

It’s funny how quickly and hard he fell for her.  
  
When Regina pulls away from him, face now relieved, her teenage version clears her throat from behind them, bringing Robin back to reality. He watches as Regina’s eyes widen at the familiar sound and she looks over his shoulder and her mouth opens in shock.

“What-what is she doing here?” she asks, her voice shaking a bit.

Robin takes Regina’s hand in his, looks from his lover to her younger version who now shows no trace of sleepiness and then explains, “She was trying to run away from he- your mother. I know how this story would have ended so I helped her escape.”   
  
Regina’s eyes widen even more, “What did you do?!”

Robin just shrugs and quickly tells her how he met her and wanted to help her. He couldn’t let this young and innocent woman repeat the cruel story, he wanted to save her, and the more of this he tells to Regina, the more her brow furrows, her eyes narrowing as she glances at her younger version every few seconds.

“Robin, you cannot do that. You cannot change her – my past,” she settles on saying. Her eyes are bewildered, anxious. “Do you know what it could mean to me, to us? If she doesn’t marry the King, if she doesn’t kill him - (the younger Regina gasps at this revelation but Regina ignores it, continues),-  our future will be destroyed. Our present may be destroyed, damn it, it _will be_ destroyed! Charming and Snow may never meet, Emma may never be born. Henry, Henry... Henry will not be born too. We will never meet.”

Robin inhales deeply. He knew the consequences from the moment he met this Regina, he’s been told about time travels and changing the past before. He was anxious about changing the past, about ruining their present and lives, he was, but how could he let this young woman suffer?

He couldn’t.

“I will not let her repeat _the_ story,” Robin says simply and Regina huffs in frustration, her eyes widening with rage.

“Are you out of your mind?” she asks, shaking her head at him in disbelief, “You do not have a choice. I do not have a choice. She doesn’t, too. She’s destined to suffer, just like I did and if you change that, everything will be destroyed.”

“I’m willing to try,”

“ROBIN!”

“She’ll not marry that man. She’s not going to suffer the way you did.”

She looks at him, breathing hard from anger, her eyes throwing daggers at him but he stands his ground, he’s not going to change his mind. He will save this young woman, he will.

All of a sudden the ground shakes underneath them and a portal opens right in front of them. He turns to look at Regina who’s moving her hands in the air, her palms glowing in purple.

“You go,” She says rather harshly to her younger self, motioning to the portal and Robin sees how confused the younger Regina is for nobody gave a damn about her, nobody was willing to explain anything to her.

“I… I don’t want to-“ the teenager tries to protest but Regina glares at her, lifting an eyebrow in that intimidating way she sometimes does, and the younger version shuts her mouth and walks closer to the portal.

Robin wonders just how scared this young Regina is if she’s agreeing to do something like this without a fight?

“Thank you,” Robin whispers to Regina and takes the teenager’s hand, squeezes it, promises to meet her on the other side.

Swallowing hard, she takes a step closer and disappears in the portal.   
  
When Robin turns to Regina to thank her one more time (it’s obviously not something she is willing to do), he’s surprised to find Regina dressed in a blue dress that looks exactly like the dress her younger self was wearing. Her hair are now much longer, she looks almost like her young self, only her face is twisted in a frown as she looks at Robin.

“Regina?” he asks confused.

He takes a step closer to her but she takes one back, shaking her head to stop him. “I have to stay,” she tells him confidently, and he knows that voice, it means no good. “We cannot change the past. So I have to stay here and live the life she’s supposed to. I’m going to relive my own life,” she adds, looking straight into his eyes.

“No!” Robin exclaims, shaking his head repeatedly. He wanted to save her younger version but he had never wanted to hurt her, not like this.

What did he do?

“Regina, please,” he starts, not knowing what to say. All words leave his mind as he stares at her, not being able to believe that she’s actually going to sacrifice her life.  
  
“I’m staying,” she repeats, her voice stern. “You go and protect her, make sure she has a good life, make sure my sacrifice is worth it,” she tells him and quickly presses her lips to his.

Robin is too stunned to realize what is happening; one moment her sweet lips are touching his, the other he’s being push back and then he’s falling.

He hits the ground with a loud thud. His eyes open instantly and he’s looking around, cursing himself for everything is turning around him and he cannot see. His vision returns quickly, though, and he realizes that he’s laying back in a farm house, he’s back to the place where all of this started.

The teenage Regina is laying on the ground beside him, but Robin doesn’t feel any relief because of that, he keeps looking around, keeps turning, searching for her other version, searching for the one who did the most stupid thing imaginable.

Robin looks and looks and looks.

And then he screams.   
  



	7. Day 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the last day of OQ Prompt Party Week I decided to write a one - shot which includes 42 prompts.   
> 1\. OQ/Belle friendship. (14)  
> 2\. Roland and Robyn meet for the first time. (15)  
> 3\. Page 23 showing up out of nowhere (22)  
> 4\. Regina and Robin meet at a hospital as they both have to sit in a waiting room waiting for hours on news about some members of their family. (26)  
> 5\. Regina self harming and Robin noticing  
> 6\. During the missing year, Regina sees herself in her mirror with Robin’s tattoo tattooed on her. (29)  
> 7\. Robin or Regina have to pick up a drunk Henry or Roland. (36)  
> 8\. Robin refuses to go to the doctor. (49)   
> 9\. Missing Year and it’s Roland’s birthday. (60)  
> 10\. Drunk Regina accidentally admits something really embarrassing. (64)   
> 11\. Robin finds Regina after searching for her. (69)  
> 12\. Regina being with young Robyn. (70)  
> 13\. “We have to be quick” (76)  
> 14\. “Would you like to share the blanket?” (77)  
> 15\. Robin comes back without any memories, Regina has to make him fall in love with her again. (81)  
> 16\. Robin proposes to Regina on a bridge. (84)  
> 17\. Regina teaching (or attempting to teach) Robin how to bake something.(85)  
> 18\. “This can never happen again” (94)  
> 19\. Robin and Regina realise that Robin’s daughter has magic, they try to teach her how to use (95)it.  
> 20\. Bedsharing (102)  
> 21\. “Maybe we were the mistake" (104)  
> 22\. Robin or Regina almost freeze to death and the other one finds them. (110)  
> 23\. Robin helps Regina see light in the darkness (124)  
> 24\. Regina is overwhelmed and is drowning in her demons. Robin helps her. (126)  
> 25\. Robin and Henry bond. (130)  
> 26\. Date night. (133)  
> 27\. Henry worries about his mother and confides in Robin (137)  
> 28\. Roland falls ill. (145)  
> 29\. “I said i loved you one more time in case it would change your mind" (148)  
> 30\. Jealous Regina and/or Robin. (151)  
> 31\. Roland and Regina go shopping. (156)  
> 32\. Movie night with the kids. (167)  
> 33\. Fireworks(171)  
> 34\. “And for the first time in a long time, I could imagine a future where I was happy" (172)  
> 35\. Regina cares for a sick Robin during the missing year. (178)  
> 36\. Robin gives Regina a ring. (186)  
> 37\. Roland climbs up a tree, Regina helps him to get down. (190)  
> 38\. Queeny and Locksley bring Robin back for Regina (193)  
> 39\. “You are my future.” “But I’m not sure you’re mine.” (207)  
> 40\. Regina makes Robin her famous lasagne. (221)  
> 41\. Roland goes to college.(222)  
> 42\. Regina wearing Robin’s sweater bc she’s cold and that’s all she can find. (228)

Regina swallows hard over the lump in her throat, her fingers moving against her thigh unconsciously, as she tries to think about something else, something that doesn’t involve scenarios of her son dying in the surgery room.

She doesn’t like hospitals and she hates them very much when it’s one of her children who is sick.

This time, it is Roland, her son who never gets sick. At first he complained that he was having pains in his stomach, and Regina didn’t think much about it for her son is obsessed with chocolate, he must have had too much of it, Regina has thought. But the stomach bud was followed by a fever, and it wasn’t that funny anymore.

It turned out that it wasn’t just a stomach bug; Roland had an appendicitis which had to be removed immediately.

It is only a simple surgery, the doctor assured her, a simple procedure that is done three or four times a day and that there’s nothing to worry about. Regina knew that herself, but a mother is a mother, and she cannot _not_ be worried about her child.

That’s how Regina finds herself going crazy in the waiting room, all alone. She wishes Henry was already here, wishes that her older son would be here and could support her. She wishes he would talk about his little daughter, or his wife, or anything, just to keep her mind busy, just to keep her for imagining the worst case scenarios.

But Henry is still a few hours ride away from here, and she’s most definitely going to lose her mind if she continues to sit here with nothing else on her mind.

Sighing, Regina closes her eyes and breathes in, counts to ten and breathes out, telling herself to calm down – it is only a simple surgery, there’s nothing to be _this_ worried about.

All of a sudden, she feels a shiver running down her spine, and Regina shakes her head to herself as she forces her eyes to open. She’s not ready for it to happen now; she’s not emotionally stable enough but her vision is already blurred and everything around her is turning and turning.

Her fingers go still against her thighs, her whole body tensing, and she has no way to stop it.

_When Regina opens her eyes, she finds herself standing in front of a huge mirror, dressed in a very revealing velvet dress that hugs her curves in all the right places. Her hair is long again, cascading down her shoulder to her lower back._

_There’s a man standing behind her, she notices, he has one hand rested on her hip, the other moving her hair away from her neck and shoulders, his lips landing on the bared skin instantly, kissing, sucking, biting._

_Regina doesn’t know this man, she sees him for the first time, but she doesn’t want to pull away from him, she doesn’t feel threatened by him._

_“You’re stunning,” the man whispers in a husky tone that sends shivers up and down Regina’s body, “You’re stunning in every way.”_

_“Am I, thief?” she hears herself saying, her perfectly shaped eyebrow raising in a teasing way, a smirk appearing on her face. But then he starts sucking instead of kissing, and she’s weak for him, and she throws her head back on a moan, her face turning from a smirk to a blissful grimace._

_He grins against her skin, and Regina hates him, she really does, but his lips feel too damn good on her skin to push him away._

_For a moment Regina lets herself get lost in the sensations, lets herself drown into the pleasure and passion that is burning deep within her. She lets herself forget about her broken black heart and just be worshiped by this common thief._

_“Open your eyes,” he tells her and Regina finds herself opening her eyes without protest, staring into the mirror in front of herself, their eyes meeting there. She watches him and herself in the mirror, watches how his hands start exploring, leaving her hip and moving up again, and Regina moans, but doesn’t close her eyes, forces herself to watch._

_He kisses her neck again as his hand takes hers, holding it, squeezing as he leaves marks on her neck, and Regina cannot find it in herself to protest._

_She continues to stare at her reflection, her eyes roaming her own body. Her eyes widen in surprise when she sees something on her wrist, something black that looks like a mark, a tattoo. She frowns no matter how good Robin’s kisses make her feel and turns her hand so she can see her wrist in the mirror._

_Her whole body tenses, her eyes turn wide as she sees a black tattoo of a lion on her wrist._

_No._

_It is impossible._

_The tattoo looks exactly like her soul-mate’s – she’s never seen his face, but she remembers his tattoo, she would never forget it. And she looks at her reflection in the mirror, and it’s the same tattoo, it really is._

_Confused, she lifts her hand up and turns it, but her wrist is bare. Her frown only deepens as she glances from her unmarked wrist to the mirror where the lion tattoo is still visible, and she just doesn’t understand._

_“Regina?” Robin asks, and he sounds alarmed – he must have realized that she’s stopped enjoying his attentions and now is deep in thoughts. He turns her around until she’s facing him, but she doesn’t concentrate on him, she continues to stare at her bare wrist._

_And then it hits her._

_“Show me your wrist,” Regina demands, her whole body tensing at the mere thought of what it can mean._

_Robin’s brow knit in confusion but he doesn’t fight, he just pulls up his sleeve and turns his hand until she’s met by the tattoo that just moments ago she saw in the mirror._

_He’s the man with the lion tattoo._

_Her soulmate._

_“Regina, tell me what’s happening?” he asks confused, his hand tightening on her hip but she’s shaking her head repeatedly, not being able to believe it._

_She takes a step back, then another and one more until her back collides with the mirror. She exhales shakily then, shaking her head, and Robin repeats her name one more time, and now he sounds worried, but Regina cannot focus on him, all she can her is TinkerBelle’s voice, telling her that she can love again._

_But she can’t. She’s cursed. She’s not meant to have a happy ending._

_“Regina, you’re scaring me. Please tell me what’s-“_

_She cannot listen to his voice, she cannot feel his scent, she cannot see him in front of her right now so she waves her hand up in the air and disappears in a cloud of purple._

Regina exhales shakily and opens her eyes, finds herself sitting in the waiting room, just where she’s been moments ago. Her heart is beating rapidly in her chest, and she tries to breathe through the tightness she feels after every vision.

She’s been having these visions for as long as she can remember. One moment she’s living her life, working, cooking, reading and the other she feels a shiver, dizziness and then she’s lost in her mind. Usually she sees a scene of another life, a scene of something she shouldn’t know. She thinks it is some kind of an alternative reality or maybe her past lives, something that is most definitely not her present life.

She doesn’t know what triggers these visions, she doesn’t know what that means, damn it, she doesn’t even know if it is real.

Sighing, Regina leans against the backrest of the chair and lets her eyes close again as she tries to push away the vision.

“Would you mind if I sat here?”

Regina’s startled by a quiet voice, and her eyes shoot open immediately, her heart beating just a little bit faster in her chest. She finds a man standing in front of her with two cups of coffee in his hands, looking at her with a warm smile on his face.

Regina’s eyes widen, air catching in her throat as she realizes that this man is a man from her vision. Robin. The one who was her soul-mate.

“Milady, are you alright?” he asks worriedly, and Regina forces herself to nod her head and tell him that he can sit down beside her.

The man sits down on the chair and stretches a paper cup filled with coffee towards her. Still stunned, Regina takes it with shaking hands and looks at the man beside her, her mouth opening and closing without letting out a sound.

“You’re so pale, milady. I got worried so I came here to keep you company,” he tells her and Regina swallows hard, nods her head and manages a small smile.

She doesn’t think her visions mean something, she doesn’t think it could be real, but now, when this man is sitting beside her with his forearms bare and a lion tattoo imprinted on his skin, looking exactly like the one she’s seen on herself, Regina realizes that these visions are not meaningless; they cannot be.

“I’m Robin, by the way,” the man introduces himself, and Regina almost blurts out that she knows it but stops herself just in time and instead introduces herself too, shakes his outstretched hand. The stranger smiles warmly at her, and starts telling her that his daughter fell from the tree, broke her arm and now is being operated. He asks about Regina’s son, and she tells him that her son has fallen ill a few days before and it turned out that he’s having appendicitis removal now.

The man keeps talking with her until Roland is brought to his room and when Regina stands up to go to her son, Robin surprises her by pulling her into a tight hug, telling her that it was a pleasure to meet her and that he hopes that Roland will get better soon.

Regina thanks, smiles, wishes him good luck and rushes into Roland’s room, her heart beating rapidly in her chest, her vision forgotten.

 (…)

Roland is a strong man. He wounds himself often and heals in no time so there’s no surprise that he gets released from the hospital in three days. Regina doesn’t feel too happy about it, she would prefer for him to stay in the hospital where he’s supervised all the time (she’ll have to go to work, and she’s sure he’ll sneak out of the house no matter how much she’ll ask him not to), but she’s assured that Roland will be able to recover at home.

She’s been spending most of her time in the hospital these lasts few days, so on their way home they stop at the market. Regina asks Roland to stay in the car, but he’s not listening to her, telling her that he’s fine. Before she can say anything else, he’s out of the car and walking toward the market.

Regina sighs.

She finds him in the market at the candy aisle and she rolls her eyes – he’s just got released from the hospital, he has to be kidding her. He has a strange addiction towards chocolate, her son.

“You’re kidding, right?” she asks, when she walks up to him. “Roland, you just got released from the hospital after having a surgery. There’s no way I will let you buy this,” she motions towards the chocolate.

“Robin is here,” Roland says as if he hasn’t heard what she’s just told him. Regina frowns in confusion at that.

“Robin?”

“The man from the hospital,” Roland adds nonchalantly, putting a bar of chocolate into the cart.

Regina looks around, surprised. And indeed, Robin is standing there in front of milk, dressed in a green t-shirt and jeans. She stares at the man for a moment before she turns back at Roland who’s now looking at her, curiously, mischievously even.

“How do you know it’s him? Regina asks, arching an eyebrow.

Roland’s eyes widen for a moment and he says too quickly, “I saw him in the hallway the other day. And you’ve told me about him.”

His reply makes Regina frown. She did tell Roland about a stranger who was kind enough to talk with her while she was in the waiting room, but she doesn’t remember telling him the stranger’s name. But she’s been very nervous and drained emotionally, she’s probably forgotten that she’s told him that.

“You should say hello, you know,” Roland’s voice brings her out of her thoughts.

 Regina frowns even more at his words – what the hell has gotten into him? He’s always been so protective over her, not letting any strange men get near her but here he’s now, encouraging her to go up and talk with a completely stranger from the hospital.

“Why should I?”

“This poor man stayed with you when you were nervous and trust me, it’s not easy to be with you and you’re over-thinking something.” Roland sasses, making Regina roll her eyes. “You should at least say hello.”

Alright. He has a point.

“Oh, you won’t have to do that,” Roland says suddenly, “He’s coming here.”

 “What?”

Regina turns around quickly and finds Robin walking up to them, a sheepish, uncertain smile on his face. He stops a few steps away from them and greets her, “Hello, milady.”

“Hi,” she replies, her heart beating rapidly in her chest for reason she doesn’t know; somehow this man makes her feel strange, giddy, excited and she doesn’t even know him.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again,” he says, and turns to look at her son. “And you must be Roland ,right?”

“I am. Nice to meet you, sir,” Roland replies politely, and stretches his hand out for a handshake. Robin doesn’t hesitate and claps hands with the teenager.

Surprisingly, Regina finds herself at a loss of words. She should probably ask about his daughter and her broken arm, and she does just so.

“Thank you, my girl is alright. She’s still in the hospital, though.” He tells them, motioning towards his cart. “Actually, I’m here buying sweet stuff to make staying in the hospital a little less miserable,” he admits, making Regina smile.

“Well, we shouldn’t keep you, then. I’m sure someone is waiting for you,” Regina says, “It was really nice to see you again, Robin. Good luck.” She smiles one last time and turns around to walk to another aisle when he hears his sheepish question.

“Would it be terribly inappropriate to ask you on a date?” He asks and Regina turns to face him immediately, her eyes wide and surprised as she stares at him. “I just-“ he starts stuttering, so Regina cuts him off.

“I would love to,” she tells him, smiling at him. She doesn’t know why, she doesn’t know how, but she thinks that she knows him; for some reason she thinks that she’s finally met someone who could change her life forever.

 (…)

Regina stops in front of a restaurant. She takes a deep inhale, wondering for the umpteenth time whether or not she did the right decision when she agreed to go on a date with Robin. He’s a man from her visions, visions which visit her more and more frequently, making her shake and gasp.

She’s not sure if she should get involved with the man who was her soul-mate in some other life.

“Good evening, milady.”

A voice from behind startles her, making her turn around. Robin is standing there with a rose in his hand, a small smile on his face.

Regina exhales – there’s no turning back now – and tries to smile despite her fears. “Good evening, Robin.”

Robin’s smile only deepens, his dimples appearing, as he hands her the rose sheepishly, and Regina takes it from him gladly, a sincere smile spreading across her face – she doesn’t remember the last time a man has given her flowers. It was probably years ago but she’s not sure, her memory is foggy.

“Why don’t we go inside?” Robin asks after a moment of just staring at each other, and Regina nods her head immediately, takes his hand and they both walk into the restaurant.

Surprisingly, there is no awkward silence between them, not anymore. She doesn’t know how but they find topics to talk to about – her bar and his shop, about her sons and his daughter, about their lives and childhood, and everything, and for a brief moment, Regina feels that she already knows the man, that she already had this conversation before.

The thought doesn’t leave her mind for the rest of the night.

(…)

The date was extremely successful, so Regina and Robin decided to meet up and her bar the other day – she couldn’t take another day off, her assistant deserved a break too- and neither of them was willing to wait another week to meet again.

Regina smiles, unconsciously, when she sees Robin walk through the door of the bar at 08:15, exactly on time. Usually the bar is empty so early in the morning, only a few regulars come, so they’ll have plenty of time to talk to.

However, her smile disappears immediately when she sees Facilier walking into the bar right after Robin. She cannot help but raise her eyebrow at the man in confusion – they’ve ended things a long while ago, her memories about him are foggy to.

They started dating and soon she started having visions of him, too. But her visions got worse, their romance soon turned into a war between witches (Regina felt as if she was losing her mind when she started having visions of her doing magical things, pulling out heart and choking people) and she quickly broke up with him, hoping that these visions would stop.

And they did stop, after a while.

“Good morning, Regina,” Facilier says as he walks to the bar. Robin stops just a few feet away from them, his eyebrows knit together and Regina glances at him, managing a tight smile, before turning back to Facilier.

Her hands tighten on the countertop of her bar, as she tries to stop the visions from torturing her because she can already feel the shiver, but she will not let that happen, she has no desire to see herself ripping out hearts.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, arching an eyebrow at him. 

“I just came to see how you’re doing,” he tells her nonchalantly and sits down on the barstool.

“I’m fine, as you can see,” she replies quickly. She can feel Robin’s eyes on her, piercing right through her and she bites her lip in surprise – is he jealous?

Facilier gives her one more look before ordering glass of whiskey. Regina pours it quickly and hands it to him, and then excuses herself, walking up to Robin who’s still standing there.

“Hi, Robin,” she greets him and he nods in greeting.

“Can we talk somewhere more private?”

His question surprises Regina. She frowns a bit, but looks around the bar anyway, makes sure that everyone has their drinks full before nodding her head, and leading Robin to the end of her bar.

“What is –“ she starts to ask, turning  around but before she knows it, Robin’s lips are on hers, kissing her for the first time. For some reason, she’s imagined it being sweet and slow, their first kiss, but it’s completely the opposite, and she doesn’t think she minds.

When he pulls away from her, she’s panting for air.

“Are you alright?” she asks in surprise.

“Is _he_ your ex-boyfriend?” Robin asks, putting emphasis on he, and Regina cannot help but laugh at him. She must be joking.

“Please, don’t tell me that you’re jealous,” she says, rolling her eyes at him. They’ve met a week ago, only yesterday did they have their first real date, he cannot be jealous.

“I am,” Robin admits, and he looks rather embarrassed. “I don’t understand what happened to me but from the day we met at the hospital, I cannot stop thinking about you. I see you everywhere, I hear your voice, I smell your perfume. I don’t have an explanation for this, all I know is that you enchanted me and I’m so jealous of that bastard.”

Regina frowns a bit but smiles at the same time, confused but flattered (she could never think that someone being jealous over her could make her feel so confident about herself) and assures Robin, “The feeling is mutual. You’re all I see,” and then she presses her lips against his one more time.

(…)

 

Their relationship progressed quite well. Robin came into her bar every morning and they’ve talked and kissed, and touched, and grew closer. The feeling that Regina’s known him already didn’t go away as didn’t her visions, but she chose to ignore it and let herself enjoy Robin’s friendship.

Tonight Regina has a night off, and Robin suggested that maybe it’s time they introduce their children. And Regina hesitated a bit, after all, she hasn’t met Robin’s daughter herself too, but then she agreed, because whatever was happening between them was serious and there was no reason to postpone it.

She’s prepared her classical meal – lasagna (she’s trying to impress not only Robin but his daughter too), Roland helped her to make apple turnovers, all the while mocking her that she’s became _that_ woman who tries to impress the man.

Regina has rolled her eyes, but admitted that indeed, when it came to Robin, she became a whole different person.

A doorbell snaps her out of her thoughts and she wipes her hands and takes off her apron before rushing to open the door. She’s met by Robin, with yet another rose, and a girl around twelve  years old standing there, her deep blue eyes meeting Regina’s immediately.

“Good evening, milady,” Robin greets Regina as they step into her house. He walks over and pecks her lips quickly before turning back to his daughter. “Robyn, this is Regina, my friend, Regina – my daughter Robyn.”

It’s an awkward moment between them two because Regina doesn’t know whether or not she should shake the girl’s hand or pull her into a hug – she has no experience when it comes to meeting her lovers children. She opts for a smile and a hello, and the girl returns the greeting with a smile of her own.

The guests take off their coats and then Regina leads them to the kitchen, where Roland is already cutting the lasagna and putting it into plates.

“Roland, this is Robyn, Robin’s daughter,” Regina tells her son when they enter the kitchen and she can see how Roland’s hand stops cutting the lasagna, his face turning into an unreadable grimace. For a moment, Regina considers whether or not he was laying when he told her that he doesn’t mind Regina dating again but then his smile breaks into a huge smile and she sighs in relief. 

Surprisingly, her son doesn’t feel awkward around his mother lovers’ children because he puts the knife on the table, wipes his hands and comes to Robyn, pulls her into a tight hug. The girl returns it, and Regina frowns in confusion, looks at Robin who seems to be just as surprised as she is.

When the children pull away from each other, they all sit down to the table. Regina watches closely as Robin and his daughter try out her lasagna, but then she feels a shiver running down her spine, and then her visions becomes blurred, and she tries to keep herself together, she tries to stay in reality but she’s already falling.

_“Robin, you’ll burn my house down,” Regina exclaims as she walks into the kitchen and finds Robin in front of a stove, the flames so big, she actually worries about their safety._

_“I got this under control,” he insists, not even turning to look at her, his eyes transfixed on the eggs in the pan._

_Regina rolls her eyes at him – she’s had enough fun with Henry trying to surprise her with breakfast and almost setting the house on fire for a few times, she really has no desire to repeat the history. With that in mind, Regina walks up to Robin and wraps his arms around his waist, distracting him with a kiss on his neck._

_She then quickly reduces the fire turning it to the right level and then turns the pan the right way. Robin groans at that and Regina grins – sometimes he’s such a child._

_“You need to pour oil into the pan first, you know,” Regina points out, and walks to the fridge, takes the bottle of oil out and hands it to Robin. He takes her, unsatisfied but takes it anyway, and pours it, listening to Regina’s instructions._

_After a few minutes, both of them are sitting in front of the table, plates of just made omelet in front of them. Regina takes a bite, and grimaces, there’s too much salt, and she turns to Robin who’s eating the omelet as if it was the most delicious meal in the world, already telling her that next time she’ll teach him how to make her apple turn overs._

_Regina laughs and shuts him up with a kiss._

“Regina, are you alright?”

“Mom?”

“Her eyes are glowing,”

She exhales shakily as she opens her eyes and is met by three pairs of orbs staring at her. Robin’s face is worried, Roland is staring at her knowingly – he’s already used to her visions and post effects, while Robyn looks at her… curiously?

“I’m fine,” Regina assures them, but she’s feeling sick now, her world still turning just a little bit. There’s no way on Earth she’s going to eat now. “I’ve lost my appetite. If you don’t mind, I would like to go and lay down for a bit,” she asks, feeling guilty for leaving her guests alone (so much for making an impression) but there’s no way she’ll sit through this dinner without fainting.

Robin assures her that it’s fine, and Roland promises to entertain their guests and with that knowledge Regina stands up from the chair and walks out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into the bedroom. She collapses onto the bed and puts her hands on her face, replaying the vision in her head over and over again.

She’s never seen herself in a real world before.

Regina doesn’t know how long she stays in the bedroom thinking until a knock on the door snaps her out of her thoughts. She sits up a bit and finds Robin standing in the doorway, looking sheepishly at her.

“How are you?” he asks, walking further into the room.

“I’m better,” Regina tells him, because it’s true, she’s feeling better now that she’s had some time to calm down and put herself under control.

“I’m glad,” Robin says as he sits down on the edge of her bed and takes her cold hand in his, kisses it, making Regina smile. “The kids are in the living room trying to decide what movie we should watch. Do you want to join or would you rather stay here?”

“No, I want to go downstairs,” Regina says and Robin asks her one more time if she’s sure. She’ll be damned if she lets those visions stop her, so she nods her head, insisting that she’s fine now and gets out of the bed.

When they walk into the living room, they find Roland and Robyn sitting on the carpet, both talking about something in hushed tones, but once the children see them, the conversation stops, and it looks as if they were caught doing something wrong. Regina looks at them, confused, but Robin seems oblivious to the changed atmosphere because she tugs Regina’s hand and makes her sit down on the couch, and makes himself comfortable beside her and Regina rests her head on his shoulder, and sighs, letting her eyes close as soon as the movie starts.

(…)

The spring blooms into the summer way too quickly, and Regina loses herself in her relationship with Robin. They don’t rush, they don’t make huge future plans, they just enjoy each other’s presence and spend time with their kids.

Before Regina knows it, the autumn is there knocking on her door, and it’s time Roland has to leave for college. It’s not the first time her child is leaving home, Henry has gone to University in a different town too, but somehow it doesn’t lessen the heartbreak.

So in the evening when Regina comes back home from Boston, she finds herself standing in the empty house, in Roland’s room doorway, with tears in her eyes, staring at his empty room.

The doorbell rings and her heart starts beating like crazy in her chest, her mind immediately screaming Roland, but her son is too far away and he won’t be back until the end of the month. Swallowing down her tears, Regina walks out of Roland’s room and down the stairs to open the door.

She finds Robin standing there in the doorway, and she cannot help herself but rush into his embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

“Oh, Regina,” he whispers into her hair, his arms wrapping around her and holding her tightly.

She stays in his embrace for a long while, and he rocks them back and forth kissing on top of her head every few seconds. 

“I came over to check in on you,” Robin says when they pull away, “and I’m so glad that I did,” he adds and pulls her into his arms again, her head resting on his chest as tears continue to roll down her cheeks. “Let’s get out of here.” He says suddenly, making Regina pull away from him with wide eyes.

“What?”

“You’ll just torture yourself in here,” Robin tells her and Regina would be lying if she’s said it wasn’t true. “Let’s go to my place. Stay with me tonight. Robyn will be very excited to see you again, and I’m sure she’ll keep your mind busy.” He offers, smiling at her warmly. “We can watch a movie or play games or just sit together in silence, whatever you prefer.”

Regina wraps her arms around him, so touched by the offer that her eyes fill with tears again.

(…)

When they walk into his apartment, they find Robyn sitting in front of a candle that is lit up, her wide blue eyes shining with unshed tears as she whispers over and over again, “I did it again.”

 Regina turns to look at Robin, confused, and he swallows hard before untangling his hand from hers and walking up to his daughter, wrapping her in a tight hug.

“It’s alright, sweetie,” Robin says as the teenager starts crying. “Don’t be afraid. We’ll figure it all out.”

Regina blinks her eyes, surprised. Did Robyn actually lit up a candle… with magic?

She shouldn’t be surprised, after all, she’s the one who has strange visions of her past lives or whatever it is. So she swallows hard and walks further into the room, sits on the couch beside father and daughter and says, “I think I can help you, Robyn.”

The girl pulls away from her father and looks at Regina with wide teary eyes.

“I… have something too,” she says, feeling stupid – she’s never ever talked to him with anyone, even Roland who has to deal with aftermath of her visions only knows that she experiences dizziness. “I think I can see the past, or something like that, an alternative reality.”

“What?” Robin asks, his voice filled with surprise.

“I have visions, strange visions.” She tells him, shifting a bit on the couch – she hopes they’re not going to ask her what it is that she sees for she has no desire to tell Robin that she sees him as her Soulmate.

Robyn looks at Regina confused, but now her fearful eyes looks a little bit hopeful. “Will you help me?”

“I will try to,” Regina says and the girl nods her head before throwing herself into Regina’s arms and starting to cry again.

 (…)

“She’s finally fell asleep,” Robin says when he walks into the living room and finds Regina sitting right where he left her. She nods her head in agreement, and then asks the question that’s been bugging her for a while now, “Aren’t you…. Disgusted of me?”

Robin’s eyes widen. “What? No! Why would I be?”

“I’m…. a monster?” she says, not knowing how to call herself.

“Regina, don’t say things like that! You’re nothing like a monster! Perhaps you see those strange visions and perhaps my daughter can lit up the candle with her mind, but it doesn’t change the way I feel about you two,” he insists as he sits down beside her on the bed and wraps his arms around her again. “Please don’t even think about that.”

Regina rests her head against his shoulder and closes her eyes, tries to believe that.

“It’s late, maybe we should go to sleep? It’s been a rough day to all of us,” Robin suggests and she couldn’t agree more.

Robin leads Regina to his bedroom and she would be lying if she’s said her heart wasn’t trying to jump out of her chest. They’ve been friends for a long time, they’ve kissed and touched but they’ve never been intimate, and Regina feels thrilled and anxious at the same time of the prospect of sharing the bed with Robin.

“Nothing will change between us,” Robin assures her as if he could read her mind. Perhaps he has a superpower of his own. “I will just hold you in my arms and chase away your nightmares, nothing more.”

Regina feels stupid for this, for not taking that one step, but she nods her head – she’s not ready, at least not today.

She lies down on the bed as soon as they walk into the room, too drained after the day. Robin excuses himself and walks to the bathroom and Regina curls into a ball. A shiver runs down her back and she clenches her teeth – she’ll not have a vision right now, she’ll not survive it.

She forces herself to get out of the bed and walks to his closet, looking around for something warm to put on. She cannot find anything expect a sweater so she takes the green one and puts it over her dress before returning back to the room.

The shivering stops and Regina sighs, lets her eyes close again.

“Would you like to share a blanket?” she hears Robin’s voice in her ear and she nods her head sleepily, feels a blanket being thrown over her and then strong arms wrap around her, keeping her warm for the rest of the night.

It turns out to be the best sleep she’s had in a really long time.

(…)

The other day Robin leaves the two girls alone while he goes to work. Regina makes breakfast for Robyn but the girl surprises Regina by walking up with a cup in her hands, a cup which she puts on the table in front of Regina.

“I made this for you,” the girl says nonchalantly and sits in front of Regina, thanks for the pancakes.

“What is it?” Regina asks, confused.

“Drink it.”

Regina frowns. She looks at the cup and the liquid in it looks like a tea. She glances at Robyn but the girl is concentrated on her pancakes. Gingerly Regina brings the cup to her lips and takes a small, testing sip. It seems like a simple tea, perhaps a little bit too sweet, so Regina takes another sip.

A shiver runs down her spine as a cup drops from her hands, shattering against the floor and everything becomes dark.

_“Don’t!” she hears a scream behind herself and she stops immediately, startled. She stumbles a little and then someone – a certain thief – is grabbing her by her wrist and pulling her off the balcony._

_“Let go of me,” She exclaims as she tries to shake his hands away from her but he doesn’t let go, only tightens his grip around her until she stops struggling and looks into his eyes. His blue orbs are wide and worried, his hand still wrapped tightly around her wrist._

_“Don’t do that,” Robin asks, staring straight into her eyes._

_“Why?” Regina asks, sarcastically. “I have nothing, **no one** to live for.”_

_Robin swallows hard, “I love you.”_

_What?_

_“I love you, Regina. You may not see what I see in you, but there’s light deep within you, there’s a bright future in front of you. Only if you would let yourself believe that, only if you would give yourself a chance,” Robin trails off before leaning over and pulling Regina into a kiss._

_She widens her eyes at him, they’ve ended their arrangement the day Regina figured out he was the man with the lion tattoo, and he has no right to touch her now but Regina cannot find it in herself to push him away._

_No matter how much her traitorous mind tries to tell her otherwise, with every sweet and loving kiss Regina lets herself believe more and more that maybe, just maybe Robin will be the one who will help her see the light…_

Regina gasps in shock as she stares at Robyn, at Zelena and Robin’s daughter. Oh God! She remembers now, she remembers everything! Those strange visions weren’t visions at all, it were memories, memories of her past, her childhood, her life.

She’s the Evil Queen.

Regina Mills.

Oh my God!

“Welcome back, aunt Regina,” Robyn says, smiling at her sweetly and Regina’s eyes widen. “Roland will be so glad to hear that it worked, that you’re awake!” the girl exclaims and Regina shakes her head in disbelief – all she remembers is Henry driving off to his out adventure and then it’s all dark.

What the hell happened?

When did Robyn, Roland and Henry grow up?

Where was she this whole time?

“Robyn,” Regina finally lets out and the girl jumps from the chair and runs towards her aunt. Her little arms wrap tightly around Regina and the woman feels tears collecting in her eyes – the girl Regina couldn’t imagine loving just saved her.

“It was Roland’s plan for me to break an arm when he started having pains,” she tells Regina proudly.

“What?!”

“He told me to fake a pain so papa would have to take me to the hospital and meet you but instead I fell down the tree and it worked!” She explains, Regina’s eyes widening in horror – her niece is crazy.

“You cannot hurt yourself like that,” she tells the girl disapprovingly, but Robyn doesn’t seem to mind, she only sits on the chair beside Regina. “Do you know who did that, I mean who cursed us? And how is your father… alive? How are you awake?” she asks, tears collecting in her eyes. Gods, Robin was dead and now he’s alive.

“The other you did the curse.” Robyn reveals. “We met in the Enchanted Forest and the other you and my other daddy said they knew how to bring my real papa back!” She says excitedly. “You had to sacrifice all of your memories of him. Everything. And make him fall in love with you again. The other you said it will break the curse. But Roland and Henry didn’t give up on trying to find a solution how to wake up both up before you two fall in love. And Henry traveled to the Forest and brought this. However, my magic was not strong enough to make two potions. So we decided to wake you up first.”

Regina exhales, confusion written all over her face. This story sounds believable, the Queen has promised to bring Robin back one day, but she didn’t think that it would actually happen. It turns out she succeeded.

“So you and Roland knew each other before Robin and I met again?” she asks, trying to put everything together.

“No!” Robyn shakes her head. “I’ve only seen Henry. The first time I met Roland was at your house. We talked over the phone.”

“Are you joking?” Regina asks, raising an eyebrow – it all feels surreal.

“Not at all, auntie Regina,” the girl seems insulted by Regina’s hesitation.

“So the Queen brought me my Robin…” Regina says more to herself than to her niece, still finding it hard to believe.

“She and my other daddy brought him to us!”

Regina opens her mouth to ask where _her_ mother, Zelena, is but then she hears the front door being opened and someone walks in. Robyn quickly jumps off the chair and rushes to see who’s there, it takes Regina a little bit longer to stand up as shaken as she is.

“Daddy!”

Robyn’s scream puts Regina into moving and she rushes to the hall, finds Robin against the door, his face as white as a paper, his eyes teary. He looks like he’s going to throw up any moment.

“Robin, what happened?” Regina asks, trying to fight the urge and not to run into his arms immediately, and cry for a long while that he’s real and that he’s back.

“I don’t feel well,” He manages, breathing deeply.

_No shit._

“Let’s go to the hospital,” Regina says, already reaching for the keys of the car but he’s shaking his head.

“No!”

“Why?”

“I will not go to the hospital,” he insists stubbornly, like a child. “Over my dead body.”

“Robin!” Regina exclaims in disbelief.

“No! I will be fine. Just… help me get to the bed and lie down for a bit,” he asks and Robyn glances at Regina worriedly but then she’s rushing off to her dad, taking his hand in hers.

Regina groans but walks over to him too, lets him wrap his arm around her and then drags him to the bedroom.

Once he’s laying on the bed, she touches his forehead and gasps, “Robin, you’re burning!”

“I’ll be fine. I just need to sleep.” He insists, rolling onto his side and closing his eyes.

Regina stands in front of him for solid fifteen minutes until he finally starts to snore and she leaves the room, goes to talk with her niece.

_Regina storms into the chamber, her hands shaking at her sides. She's just heard that Robin's been injured and she's stopped doing whatever she was going and went to see what the hell has happened._

_As much as she tried to deny it, she cared about the thief._

_Robin is laying on a huge bed in the middle of a chamber, a few merry men walking around him anxiously, their faces turned into the anxious expressions which make Regina's heart clench._

_Gods._

_"What happened?" She asks, her voice quiet but uncharacteristically anxious. She walks further into the room to his bed and gasps when she sees Robin's stomach - there's a black circle around his navel, right where the arrow has hit him._

_The curse, she realizes with a sinking feeling._

_The merry men all look at her with wide eyes, waiting for her to stay something, after all she's the only one in this room who deals with magic, black magic._

_Regina doesn't know what to say. She stares at them for a moment, and then shakes her head, whispers that she doesn't know, she doesn't know what will happen to Robin but she'll do everything in her power to help him._

_With that, she waves her hand up in the air and disappears._

_(...)_

_When Regina appears in the library, Belle gasps in surprise, dropping the books she's been holding. The younger woman looks alarmed for a moment - and who wouldn't be, if the woman who kept you a prisoner for years suddenly appears in your safe haven._

_"What are you doing here?" Belle manages, kneeling down to the ground to collect the fallen books._

_"Robin's been cursed." She says simply and walks past the girl and to the book shelf. She knows that there has to be a book about curses somewhere in here._

_"What?" Belle gasps in shock. "When did that happen?"_

_"Today," Regina says dismissively and Belle is nodding her head immediately, walking up to the shelves too and turning to Regina._

_"Alright. So we need to start looking for a cure," Belle says, and Regina rolls her eyes, as if she didn't know that already. "I'm going to look from the other side so it will be faster," she tells and this time Regina turns to look at Belle, surprised._

_"You're going to help me?" She asks in disbelief._

_"It's not you I'm helping. It's Robin. And he's my friend, I will not let him die." She says, determination clear in her voice and then she's turning around and walks to the other side of the room._

_Regina would be lying if she's said she didn't feel thankful._

_(...)_

_It's after the midnight when Regina walks into the chamber with Belle following behind her, holding a heavy book in her hands. The spell is already prepared, Regina needs to only whisper an enchantment and make Robin drink a potion which has her -his soulmate's- blood in it._

_Regina doesn't like Belle, she really does not, but she feels better now that she's not alone in this, that someone was willing to help with something as important as this._

_Regina sits at the edge of Robin's bed and takes his warm, feverish hand in hers, strokes it as she stares into his ill body, tears collecting at the corners of her eyes._

_She cannot lose him._

_Belle hands her the book and Regina takes the potion, murmurs the words under her nose and waves her hand over the liquid until it’s glowing._

_She makes Robin drink it, and he, even in his feverish and weak state, grimaces at the taste. She smiles at that a bit - it's better than nothing, even a simple grimace after a curse like this is an achievement._

_"Robin, listen to me," she says quietly, her hand squeezing his. "Don't you dare to leave me, alright? You have to wake up and raise your son. You have to wake up and lead your men. You have to wake up and annoy the hell out of me," her voice breaks at the last words, and she lets a few tears roll down her cheeks._

_She quickly composes herself, though, and turns over her shoulder to look at Belle, who's standing there behind her, her own eyes full of tears._

_"Thank you," Regina whispers, her voice too weak to say the words out loud._

_"You're welcome," she returns, resting her hand over Regina's shoulder and smiling warmly._

_They're not enemies anymore. They are friends._

_(...)_

_Neither of them leaves Robin's side. They stay with him during the night and day, wiping his burning forehead with a wet cloth, holding his hand when nightmares or hallucinations come, talking to him even though he cannot hear them._

_It seems that things are only getting worse and Regina shakes her head sadly whenever a merry man asks her out Robin but then on the fourth day, Robin wakes up._

_(…)_

_He feels like he's been dead. Every part of his body feels heavy and aching. Despite that, he forces his eyes to open, and for a moment everything is turning and moving, and he tries to sit up in vain._

_He lets his eyes close, and just breathes for a moment, tries to remember what the hell has happened._

_All he remembers is Regina's face. He remembers her dark eyes shining, her worried face staring at him as she called his name, he remembers her gasp when the world started turning around him. And then it's all black._

_He opens his eyes again and this time his vision is more clear, the ceiling above him no longer turning. Taking a deep inhale, Robin groans and tries to get up, sore muscles protesting with every move._

_He manages to sit up, still a little unsteady but at least now he can look around the chamber._

_The hard wooden door open and Robin squints his eyes, tries to see the figure in the doorway. Someone lets out a surprised gasp, and Robin knows that voice, he would recognize his friend anywhere._

_"Robin! You're awake," Belle exclaims, as she rushes towards the bed, her voice filled with surprise. "Gods, you need to lie down," she demands as she approaches him and helps him lie down despite his protests._

_"What happened?" He asks, his voice groggy and so foreign. He coughs a little, and Belle's warm palm rests on his forehead._

_A smile breaks onto her face, "The fever is gone! Gods, Robin, you scared us so much" she adds as she sits down on the bed beside him. "You've been sick for the whole week. We thought we would lose you. But Regina... she saved you," she whispers and Robin closes her eyes._

_He remembers through his blurry memory that she's been here and she's been talking with him, and that she's been worried. The Queen's been worried about him._

_She cares about him._

_It doesn't matter that she pretends to hate him. Deep down, she feels something too._

Robin wakes up, disoriented, confused. He looks around the room, and realizes that he's back in his apartment, in his bedroom, in his own bed, not some mysterious and dark medieval chamber with a woman whose name is Belle.

He must be hallucinating.   
  
"How are you feeling?" Regina's voice snaps him out of his mind and he blinks his eyes a few times before turning to her, still confused by that strange dream.

"I'm... I'm feeling better." He says, his throat sore, but he does feel better.

"I'm glad," Regina tells him, smiling sweetly. "I was worried for a moment here, you know." She adds, shifting on the bed and moving a little bit closer.

"Regina, you shouldn't," he tries to stop her; as much as he would like to hold her in his arms, they really don’t need her to get sick either. But she doesn't seem to care because she moves closer to him, and rests her head against his chest.

He shouldn't fall asleep, he just woke up but he feels so weak, so drained that he lets his eyes close, lets himself rests just for a little bit longer.

The last thing he hears is Regina's whispered, "For a moment, I could I would lose you again," as she clutches him closer but he’s too sleepy to say something in return.

_“Put it down,” Robin exclaims as he walks into the room and finds Regina sitting on her bed, with a knife in her hand. She’s been on a mission to hurt herself these days, jumping in front of fireballs and flying monkeys, accidentally or not so falling off her horse or down the stairs._

_Robin thinks she’s trying to end her life and this proves that._

_Her wrists are clean but the knife is held with an aim and there’s no way on Earth he will let her do that._

_“You don’t order me what to do,” She says, dismissively._

_“I will not let you hurt yourself.”_

_“I’m not asking for permission.”_

_Exhaling, Robin takes a step closer to her, then another, watches her as she watches the knife at her hands, ready to slit her wrists open. When he’s close enough, he grabs the knife from her hands and she growls in anger, her face turning red as she starts to say something, but he shuts her up with the kiss, holding those wrists she wanted to cut in his hands until she stops fighting and accepts his kiss, and gives up on trying to hurt herself._

_“This cannot happen again, do you hear me?” he asks before pressing his lips against her again and she doesn’t agree but at least tonight she’ll not harm herself. Robin will make sure of it._

 (...)

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Regina asks in the morning as she places a cup of tea in front of him. Robin tightens the robe around himself – he’s still feverish, still sick – in order to stay warm and takes the tea into his cold palms.

“I will,” he assures her, flattered that she’s so worried about him. “You can go to the bar, I’ll be fine,” he tells her, taking a sip of a wonderful warm tea. “Robyn will be back home soon, she’ll make sure I’ll stay in bed, trust me,” he smiles a bit at that, thinking that his daughter is really bossy.

“If you’re sure,” Regina looks at him doubtfully, but then walks up to him and pecks his lips quickly. “I’ll come here later to check in on you,” she adds before she’s taking her purse and walking out of his apartment.

Robin finishes drinking the tea as fast as possible and doesn’t even bother to clean the cup, instead he rushes back to his room, ready to hide under the covers for the rest of the day, hoping that he’ll feel better tomorrow.

However, when he walks into his bedroom, he frowns. There’s a paper on the bed, a paper that most definitely wasn’t there before. Frowning in confusion, Robin walks closer to the bed and takes the page, looks at it closely.

There’s a woman and a man in the page, kissing. He must be still hallucinating because for a moment Robin thinks that the woman could be Regina from his vision with her long hair and the man… the man could be him.  Robin scoffs at that thought and looks down at the corner of the page, finds twenty three written there.

Twenty three is his lucky number.

Confused, he puts the piece of paper on the nightstand, and falls onto the bed, curling under the covers; he hopes these strange hallucinations will disappear soon.

(…)

“Robin, you really don’t have to do it,” Regina insists when she looks at him. Of course, Regina got sick as soon as Robin got better and now she’s laying curled up under her blanket and Roland just texted her with too many typos asking to be picked up after a party at his friends’.

Even the idea of getting out of the bed makes Regina shiver so Robin offered to bring Roland home.

“I don’t mind,” he assures her, leaning over to peck her feverish forehead. “I’m happy to help,” he insists as he takes the keys from the coffee table in the middle of the living room. “You stay here, we will be back soon.”

In twenty minutes, Roland is sitting in Robin’s car, too drunk to speak properly. Robin grins at himself – this child is having the time of his life even though he’s going to die from headache in the morning.

“You know, you’re my father,” Roland says when the hit the road.

“Roland, you’re really drunk, but you do recognize me, right?” Robin asks, confused.

“I do,” Roland assures. “And you’re my father. And Regina’s awake now, we will wake you up too. But you could help us by falling in love with her, you know.”

“Roland, I think you’re hallucinating. How much have you drank?”

“She… You have to love her as much as you loved her before, you have to be willing to die for her again to wake up, dad.” Roland insists, but when Robin doesn’t say anything back, he just huffs in frustration and turns to look out of the window.

When Robin stops the car in Regina’s yard, a shiver runs down his spine, his vision becoming blurred and he already knows what is going to happen now.

_“Hello, Robin.”_

_Robin sits up in the bed, confused when he hears her sultry voice and then there’s a sound of heavy footsteps. He sees Regina’s silhouette not a second later and she falls onto his bed, and moves up until she’s laying beside a very surprised Robin._

_“Milady, what are you doing here?” he asks, surprised._

_“I came here to fuck you,” she tells, and she can barely speak, she’s that drunk._

_“What?” Robin asks, surprised. The woman who hated him, who threatened to burn him alive is now in his room, drunk, and telling him that._

_“Oh, don’t be shy, thief,” she rolls her eyes, and tries to sit up and it seems that she’s a little bit too drunk to do that now._

_“Regina,-“ Robin starts but she cuts him off by putting her finger against his lips, shushing him._

_“Do you know why I didn’t kill myself that night?” she asks, and Robin wants to ask which night because she’s tried to do that too many times to count now but she is continuing, not letting him interrupt, “I didn’t kill myself because I wanted to take you to bed first. I wanted to die right after that. Seemed like a pretty great death.”_

_“Oh my Gods,” Robin cannot help but laugh at her. “You’re talking non-sense.”_

_“Am I?” she asks, and she tries to sit up again but fails. “That’s true. I heard the maids talking about you the other day, about your arms, about your great ass, everything, and you have no idea how jealous I got.”_

_“You’re drunk,” Robin says, a huge smile appearing on his face – she’ll be so embarrassed tomorrow if she remembers any of this for the great and scary Evil Queen wouldn’t even let him touch her and now she’s admitting this._

_For a few moments they lay in silence, and then Robin hears her quiet snore and he calls her name, once, twice and when he’s sure she’s asleep, he rolls onto his side, facing her and lets himself fall asleep too._

_This is the first time the Queen shares his bed._

Robin opens his eyes, and turns to look to a sleeping Roland. He swallows hard, pushes the vision away and gets out of the car, pulling the sleeping Roland with himself and dragging him home.

(…)

It takes two weeks and Robin cannot take it anymore. These visions are going to end him, it scares the hell out of him – it’s nothing when he sees himself and Regina but when he sees her pulling out hearts, when he sees himself stabbing people, when he sees himself expecting baby with her sister, it drives him crazy.

It makes no sense, those visions, but Regina’s said she was having them too. And without any idea what to do, Robin blames them on Regina.

He was fine before she appeared, he was living with his daughter happily and then he met her and everything turned upside down. She ruined his life.

So when Regina walks into his apartment tonight with donuts, a huge smile on her face, Robin doesn’t kiss her, he doesn’t smile.

He has to break up with her.

“Robin, are you alright?” Regina asks, confused, as she puts the box of donuts on the table, her smile disappearing.

“Maybe we were a mistake,” Robin whispers, feeling tears collecting in his eyes.

“What? Robin, what happened?” Regina asks, her voice shaking, showing her confusion.

“We should break up, Regina. It’s over.”

“Robin, please, tell me what’s happened.”

“I… I’m not interested in you anymore,” he lies and can see just how much the words hurt her, how she inhales shakily, tears collecting in her eyes instantly.

He’s a bastard.

But he cannot stay with her.

He needs those visions to end.

“I love you!” Regina exclaims, the words she has never said before. “Robin, I love you so much! You are my life. You are my future.”

“But I’m not sure you’re mine,” he tells, and it’s breaking his heart, his own eyes fill with tears but he forces himself to stay calm, to think, to remember why he’s doing that.

“Robin, I-“ she trails off, tears now running her cheeks. “I… You mean so much to me. Life without you was colorless, empty but now, you made me believe and changed me and for the first time in a long time, I could imagine a future where I was happy. You make me feel happy,” she says the word as if happiness is foreign to her.

“It’s over, Regina.” He says, turning around, away from her.

His own heart breaks into million pieces as he hears her cry and she turns around and rushed out of his apartment, shutting the door after herself with a loud thud.

He’s a bastard.

(…)

_“You made me a cake?” Roland gasps in surprise, looking at Regina. Robin is standing in the doorway, watching the two interact._

_A smile spreads across Regina’s face as she nods. “I did. It is your birthday! I had to surprise and reward my best knight,” she tells him and Roland beams at her._

_“Is it a chocolate cake?” Roland asks, and Regina nods again. “And it’s all for me?” his eyes widen in disbelief._

_“It is,” Regina assures him._

_Robin smiles when his son throws himself into Regina’s embrace, telling her that he loves her. It’s funny how both son and father fell for one woman who is still trying to figure out what kindness is._

The visions don’t leave Robin.

They torture him, showing him the craziest scenarios, making him wake up in the middle of the night sweaty and confused and scared, and wishing for all of this to end.

(…)

It’s been three weeks since Robin and Regina have broken up when Robin sees Regina’s son Henry standing on his porch. The young man looks worried, and there’s Roland in the distance, and he was supposed to be in college, and Robin has a feeling that something is very wrong.

“Hi, Robin, I’m Henry,” the man introduces himself but he doesn’t have to because Robin has seen plenty of his photos. Robin greets him, shakes hands and looks at him in confusion. “You must be surprised to see me but… Mom’s gone. She’s been not herself these last few weeks and now… now she’s gone.”

Robin’s eyes widen.

“I know you want to know nothing about her, after all you broke up, but… maybe you know where she is?”

“I… I have no idea,” Robin stutters, shocked.

“Oh, alright,” Henry replies, worriedly.

“When did she leave?” Robin asks, and at this moment his visions mean nothing, all he cares about is the woman he loves, Regina.

“Yesterday evening. She said she’ll take a walk and… she never came back home.”

“Oh my God!” Robin exclaims. It’s been snowing all night and the weather is freezing. What if something happened to her?

“I’m sorry for disturbing you, we will go to look for her somewhere else,” Henry says, turning around but Robin stops him with a simple sentence.

“I’ll help.”

(…)

_“Roland, I said get down,” Robin demands, his hands on his hips as he stares at his child who crosses his little arms over his chest with a pout, and Robin has a hard time pretending that he’s mad. His son is hilarious. “Roland, get down,” Robin repeats, trying to keep his voice stern._

_“No!” The boy exclaims, “I will not leave this tree until Regina will not show up.”_

_Robin sighs, and swallows hard, before looking at his boy again, “Regina needs some time alone. You have to understand that. When you’re sad, you don’t want to see me too, right? So now Regina is sad and she really really would like to be left alone,” Robin insists, recalling how she shouted on him this morning._

_The boy doesn’t seem to listen to his words, only moves his arms over his chest and sits in the tree, showing no signs that he’ll get down soon._

_Robin groans._

_And then from the corner of his eyes he sees her, Regina, walking towards them. She’s dressed in black, as always, her face so sad, it breaks Robin’s heart. She approaches them and fakes a smile, turns to look at Roland._

_“So I’ve heard a certain knight refuses to get out of the tree.”_

_“Regina!” Roland exclaims, clapping his hands, a huge smile appearing on his face._

_“Now that I am here, will you climb down? Your shouts are annoying me,” she tells him, but there’s a smile on her face and Robin doubts that it’s true._

_“I… I can’t,” Roland says suddenly, his face alarmed._

_“Why?”_

_“I’m afraid,” he whispers in horror, and his face turning white._

_Regina laughs, waves her hand up in the air and the tree is bowed down so Roland can jump off of it onto the ground safely._

_“Thank you, Regina!” The boy hugs her happily, his little arms wrapping around her tightly._

_She smiles at him and before they know it, the boy is running towards the merry men, asking everyone if they’ve seen how the Queen helped him to climb down the tree._

_Robin turns to look at Regina then, whose face is sad again, her eyes no longer shining that Roland’s is nowhere to be seen. She doesn’t have to pretend anymore._

_“I’m sorry that you have to leave your chambers,” Robin apologizes taking a step towards her, resting his hand on her lower back testily. When she doesn’t push him away, he pulls her closer and she rests her head against his shoulder, admits, “You make me see the light, Robin, you and Roland are the reason why I exist now.”_

_Robin only tightens his hold around her and whispers that he loves her very much._

(…)

“I think I see her,” Roland exclaims and points to the bench. There’s definitely someone and before Robin knows it, he’s running towards the bench, Henry and Roland running right beside him.

They reach the bench in record time and there’s indeed a person, a person that is Regina and her lips are purple, her eyes closed. She’s asleep on a damned bench in the winter.

“She’s freezing!” Robin exclaims, touching her forehead. Roland and Henry make her sit down, and she groans in protest but her groan is so quiet, it scares Robin even more. He quickly takes off his coat and wraps it around her freezing body before he turns to her sons, “We have to be quick, guys,” he says and they nod and he quickly takes her into his arms while Roland and Henry rushes back to the car to find something to warm her up.

“You’ll not die, Regina,” Robin whispers into her hair as he carries her to the car. “You’ll not die today.”

(…)

Robin sits down on the armchair beside the bed and touches Regina’s hand which is not so cold anymore. Her lips are still a bit purple and Robin wonders for the umpteenth time this day whether or not they did the right decision by bringing her home instead of a hospital.

“Thank you for the help,” Henry says, when he sits down on the edge of the bed, taking Regina’s other hand in his. “I know that you two have broken up but… can I ask why? I mean it seemed that you were meant to be together.”

Robin swallows hard and admits, “I started having visions. Of her. Of Roland. Of myself. In some strange place, I see things that are beyond reality and … they terrify me. She pulls out hearts, I kill people, Roland loves her unconditionally.”

“So you’re remembering.”

“What?”

“Would you believe me, if I told you that your visions were true? Would you believe me, if I told you that Roland is your son and you loved my mother?” Henry asks with an arched eyebrow. Robin frowns. “That’s what I’ve thought,” the man says, but he doesn’t seem sad by Robin’s reply. “One day you _will_ be believe me.”

Robin cannot take it anymore, he feels like he’s going to lose his mind if he stays here for another moment, so he excuses himself and rushes out of the apartment, not being able to understand what the hell is happening with him and all of those people.

(…)

The winter turns into spring, days become longer and longer, and visions become more frequent, more real and even more scary. Robin shuts himself in his shop, tries to avoid meeting Regina, tries to stop thinking about her but she never leaves his mind.

He misses her. He misses her so much, even the thought of her has him aching, wanting to hold her in his arms and kiss her and love her.

Henry has called him a few days later after they’ve found her almost frozen, told him that she was fine, sick, but fine, and Robin felt better but there was still something missing, something missing in his heart.

He sees her on the bridge today and for a few minutes he just stares at her, mesmerized by her beauty, by the shadow around her. She’s perfect, his Regina, and after all these months Robin has finally realized that she’s worth the fight, he’s finally realized that he can suffer these visions if she’ll be by his side.

He’s just not sure if she wants him anymore.

But he has nothing to lose so he walks up to her, muttering a sheepish, “Hello, milady.”

She’s startled by him, must have been lost in thoughts, so she turns at him with wide surprised eyes but quickly recovers and greets him back with a ,”Hello, Robin.”

He doesn’t know what to say, so he stands beside her on the bridge, watching the water for awhile until he finally whispers, “Regina, I’m so sorry for what I did to you. You’ve been a light in my life, you’ve been everything but those visions… They scared the hell out of me, they confused me, and I blamed them on you and I just…. Wanted it to stop.”

“It’s not my fault,” she replies with a shrug, not looking at him. “That night you broke me, Robin. I’m an unbreakable woman, but you’ve been dead and brought back and I was ready to sacrifice everything for you and you told me you didn’t want me anymore. I… I just couldn’t believe that after all this time you stopped loving me.”

Robin inhales shakily as he tries to process the information. He’s not as afraid about it as he was before; he’s met with Henry a few times, has asked the man to tell him more about this life he keeps remembering and as hard as it is to believe it, he thinks that he does.

“That night… that night my life collapsed,” she admits, “I never said ‘I love you’ to you. I was always afraid but that night I found the courage, I thought that it would change your mind, I thought that you, even cursed, loved me enough. And then I said i loved you one more time in case it would change your mind. It didn’t work. You didn’t want me anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” Robin says, standing in front of her with his head bowed down. He feels so ashamed of himself, and even though he does not remember everything, he knows that they’ve lived this life together, that they were supposed to be together but Robin was too scared to fight his own demons and simply let her go.

 “I don’t remember what happened between us,” he says then, determined, yet unsure, “But what I do remember is that I loved you. I loved you so much that I gave up my life for you.” Regina looks at him with teary eyes, and she opens her mouth to stay something, but nothing comes out, so she presses her lips together and stares at him.

“Robin, it’s-“

Robin quickly pulls out the ring Roland has given him this morning – it’s still so strange to refer to the young man as his son but they’re communicating now, both Henry and Roland are trying to help Robin remember.

“Roland told me that I was going to propose to you. Before going on some crazy trip, I gave the ring to him and made him promise to keep it safe until I return. He said I died right after that,” Robin grimaces at his own words, too stunned to believe this whole story. But the visions, the visions he keeps having whenever Regina or Roland or Henry or Robyn are around, makes him believe it. As crazy as it sounds.

This time Regina is not able to hold back her tears and she presses her hand over her mouth, a sob escaping her as she squeezes her eyes shut. It breaks Robin’s heart to see her like this, but it also proves to him just how much she actually loves him; it proves to him how much he means to her.

It gives him hope that maybe, just maybe she’ll agree to try again.

“Perhaps I died before I got to propose to you. But I’m alive now and strong and not ready to let you go anytime soon, so,” he gets on one knee in front of her, making her gasp in surprise as more tears roll down her cheeks. To be honest, he doesn’t know what he’s doing , he didn’t plan to propose to her, damn it, he didn’t even think he’ll meet her but now that she’s standing in front of him, he does what his heart tells him to do. “I don’t have a speech prepared, but… You’re my future, Regina, I know that. I take everything I’ve said to you that night back. I will apologize for the rest of my life if it means that one day you’ll forgive me. Please, just… give me one last chance. Marry me.”

She starts crying even harder at that, shaking her head and then nodding and then she’s pulling Robin up from the ground and pulling him into a hug, their wet cheeks touches, tears mingling, hands wrapping tightly around each other and holding, their lips touching.

All of a sudden, fireworks explode over them, and it makes Regina tighten her arms around his neck, holding him tighter, closer, and Robin does the same, and  with every kiss, with every explode in the sky his mind becomes clearer and clearer.

With the last explosion and kiss, Robin’s memories return.

 


	8. Day 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the last day of OQ Prompt Party Week I decided to write a one - shot which includes 42 prompts.   
> 1\. OQ/Belle friendship. (14)  
> 2\. Roland and Robyn meet for the first time. (15)  
> 3\. Page 23 showing up out of nowhere (22)  
> 4\. Regina and Robin meet at a hospital as they both have to sit in a waiting room waiting for hours on news about some members of their family. (26)  
> 5\. Regina self harming and Robin noticing  
> 6\. During the missing year, Regina sees herself in her mirror with Robin’s tattoo tattooed on her. (29)  
> 7\. Robin or Regina have to pick up a drunk Henry or Roland. (36)  
> 8\. Robin refuses to go to the doctor. (49)   
> 9\. Missing Year and it’s Roland’s birthday. (60)  
> 10\. Drunk Regina accidentally admits something really embarrassing. (64)   
> 11\. Robin finds Regina after searching for her. (69)  
> 12\. Regina being with young Robyn. (70)  
> 13\. “We have to be quick” (76)  
> 14\. “Would you like to share the blanket?” (77)  
> 15\. Robin comes back without any memories, Regina has to make him fall in love with her again. (81)  
> 16\. Robin proposes to Regina on a bridge. (84)  
> 17\. Regina teaching (or attempting to teach) Robin how to bake something.(85)  
> 18\. “This can never happen again” (94)  
> 19\. Robin and Regina realise that Robin’s daughter has magic, they try to teach her how to use (95)it.  
> 20\. Bedsharing (102)  
> 21\. “Maybe we were the mistake" (104)  
> 22\. Robin or Regina almost freeze to death and the other one finds them. (110)  
> 23\. Robin helps Regina see light in the darkness (124)  
> 24\. Regina is overwhelmed and is drowning in her demons. Robin helps her. (126)  
> 25\. Robin and Henry bond. (130)  
> 26\. Date night. (133)  
> 27\. Henry worries about his mother and confides in Robin (137)  
> 28\. Roland falls ill. (145)  
> 29\. “I said i loved you one more time in case it would change your mind" (148)  
> 30\. Jealous Regina and/or Robin. (151)  
> 31\. Roland and Regina go shopping. (156)  
> 32\. Movie night with the kids. (167)  
> 33\. Fireworks(171)  
> 34\. “And for the first time in a long time, I could imagine a future where I was happy" (172)  
> 35\. Regina cares for a sick Robin during the missing year. (178)  
> 36\. Robin gives Regina a ring. (186)  
> 37\. Roland climbs up a tree, Regina helps him to get down. (190)  
> 38\. Queeny and Locksley bring Robin back for Regina (193)  
> 39\. “You are my future.” “But I’m not sure you’re mine.” (207)  
> 40\. Regina makes Robin her famous lasagne. (221)  
> 41\. Roland goes to college.(222)  
> 42\. Regina wearing Robin’s sweater bc she’s cold and that’s all she can find. (228)

Regina swallows hard over the lump in her throat, her fingers moving against her thigh unconsciously, as she tries to think about something else, something that doesn’t involve scenarios of her son dying in the surgery room.   
She doesn’t like hospitals and she hates them very much when it’s one of her children who is sick.   
This time, it is Roland, her son who never gets sick. At first he complained that he was having pains in his stomach, and Regina didn’t think much about it for her son is obsessed with chocolate, he must have had too much of it, Regina has thought. But the stomach bud was followed by a fever, and it wasn’t that funny anymore.   
It turned out that it wasn’t just a stomach bug; Roland had an appendicitis which had to be removed immediately.   
It is only a simple surgery, the doctor assured her, a simple procedure that is done three or four times a day and that there’s nothing to worry about. Regina knew that herself, but a mother is a mother, and she cannot not be worried about her child.   
That’s how Regina finds herself going crazy in the waiting room, all alone. She wishes Henry was already here, wishes that her older son would be here and could support her. She wishes he would talk about his little daughter, or his wife, or anything, just to keep her mind busy, just to keep her for imagining the worst case scenarios.  
But Henry is still a few hours ride away from here, and she’s most definitely going to lose her mind if she continues to sit here with nothing else on her mind.  
Sighing, Regina closes her eyes and breathes in, counts to ten and breathes out, telling herself to calm down – it is only a simple surgery, there’s nothing to be this worried about.  
All of a sudden, she feels a shiver running down her spine, and Regina shakes her head to herself as she forces her eyes to open. She’s not ready for it to happen now; she’s not emotionally stable enough but her vision is already blurred and everything around her is turning and turning.   
Her fingers go still against her thighs, her whole body tensing, and she has no way to stop it.   
When Regina opens her eyes, she finds herself standing in front of a huge mirror, dressed in a very revealing velvet dress that hugs her curves in all the right places. Her hair is long again, cascading down her shoulder to her lower back.  
There’s a man standing behind her, she notices, he has one hand rested on her hip, the other moving her hair away from her neck and shoulders, his lips landing on the bared skin instantly, kissing, sucking, biting.   
Regina doesn’t know this man, she sees him for the first time, but she doesn’t want to pull away from him, she doesn’t feel threatened by him.   
“You’re stunning,” the man whispers in a husky tone that sends shivers up and down Regina’s body, “You’re stunning in every way.”  
“Am I, thief?” she hears herself saying, her perfectly shaped eyebrow raising in a teasing way, a smirk appearing on her face. But then he starts sucking instead of kissing, and she’s weak for him, and she throws her head back on a moan, her face turning from a smirk to a blissful grimace.   
He grins against her skin, and Regina hates him, she really does, but his lips feel too damn good on her skin to push him away.   
For a moment Regina lets herself get lost in the sensations, lets herself drown into the pleasure and passion that is burning deep within her. She lets herself forget about her broken black heart and just be worshiped by this common thief.   
“Open your eyes,” he tells her and Regina finds herself opening her eyes without protest, staring into the mirror in front of herself, their eyes meeting there. She watches him and herself in the mirror, watches how his hands start exploring, leaving her hip and moving up again, and Regina moans, but doesn’t close her eyes, forces herself to watch.   
He kisses her neck again as his hand takes hers, holding it, squeezing as he leaves marks on her neck, and Regina cannot find it in herself to protest.  
She continues to stare at her reflection, her eyes roaming her own body. Her eyes widen in surprise when she sees something on her wrist, something black that looks like a mark, a tattoo. She frowns no matter how good Robin’s kisses make her feel and turns her hand so she can see her wrist in the mirror.  
Her whole body tenses, her eyes turn wide as she sees a black tattoo of a lion on her wrist.  
No.   
It is impossible.  
The tattoo looks exactly like her soul-mate’s – she’s never seen his face, but she remembers his tattoo, she would never forget it. And she looks at her reflection in the mirror, and it’s the same tattoo, it really is.   
Confused, she lifts her hand up and turns it, but her wrist is bare. Her frown only deepens as she glances from her unmarked wrist to the mirror where the lion tattoo is still visible, and she just doesn’t understand.   
“Regina?” Robin asks, and he sounds alarmed – he must have realized that she’s stopped enjoying his attentions and now is deep in thoughts. He turns her around until she’s facing him, but she doesn’t concentrate on him, she continues to stare at her bare wrist.  
And then it hits her.   
“Show me your wrist,” Regina demands, her whole body tensing at the mere thought of what it can mean.   
Robin’s brow knit in confusion but he doesn’t fight, he just pulls up his sleeve and turns his hand until she’s met by the tattoo that just moments ago she saw in the mirror.  
He’s the man with the lion tattoo.  
Her soulmate.  
“Regina, tell me what’s happening?” he asks confused, his hand tightening on her hip but she’s shaking her head repeatedly, not being able to believe it.   
She takes a step back, then another and one more until her back collides with the mirror. She exhales shakily then, shaking her head, and Robin repeats her name one more time, and now he sounds worried, but Regina cannot focus on him, all she can her is TinkerBelle’s voice, telling her that she can love again.   
But she can’t. She’s cursed. She’s not meant to have a happy ending.   
“Regina, you’re scaring me. Please tell me what’s-“  
She cannot listen to his voice, she cannot feel his scent, she cannot see him in front of her right now so she waves her hand up in the air and disappears in a cloud of purple.   
Regina exhales shakily and opens her eyes, finds herself sitting in the waiting room, just where she’s been moments ago. Her heart is beating rapidly in her chest, and she tries to breathe through the tightness she feels after every vision.  
She’s been having these visions for as long as she can remember. One moment she’s living her life, working, cooking, reading and the other she feels a shiver, dizziness and then she’s lost in her mind. Usually she sees a scene of another life, a scene of something she shouldn’t know. She thinks it is some kind of an alternative reality or maybe her past lives, something that is most definitely not her present life.  
She doesn’t know what triggers these visions, she doesn’t know what that means, damn it, she doesn’t even know if it is real.   
Sighing, Regina leans against the backrest of the chair and lets her eyes close again as she tries to push away the vision.   
“Would you mind if I sat here?”   
Regina’s startled by a quiet voice, and her eyes shoot open immediately, her heart beating just a little bit faster in her chest. She finds a man standing in front of her with two cups of coffee in his hands, looking at her with a warm smile on his face.  
Regina’s eyes widen, air catching in her throat as she realizes that this man is a man from her vision. Robin. The one who was her soul-mate.   
“Milady, are you alright?” he asks worriedly, and Regina forces herself to nod her head and tell him that he can sit down beside her.  
The man sits down on the chair and stretches a paper cup filled with coffee towards her. Still stunned, Regina takes it with shaking hands and looks at the man beside her, her mouth opening and closing without letting out a sound.   
“You’re so pale, milady. I got worried so I came here to keep you company,” he tells her and Regina swallows hard, nods her head and manages a small smile.   
She doesn’t think her visions mean something, she doesn’t think it could be real, but now, when this man is sitting beside her with his forearms bare and a lion tattoo imprinted on his skin, looking exactly like the one she’s seen on herself, Regina realizes that these visions are not meaningless; they cannot be.   
“I’m Robin, by the way,” the man introduces himself, and Regina almost blurts out that she knows it but stops herself just in time and instead introduces herself too, shakes his outstretched hand. The stranger smiles warmly at her, and starts telling her that his daughter fell from the tree, broke her arm and now is being operated. He asks about Regina’s son, and she tells him that her son has fallen ill a few days before and it turned out that he’s having appendicitis removal now.   
The man keeps talking with her until Roland is brought to his room and when Regina stands up to go to her son, Robin surprises her by pulling her into a tight hug, telling her that it was a pleasure to meet her and that he hopes that Roland will get better soon.   
Regina thanks, smiles, wishes him good luck and rushes into Roland’s room, her heart beating rapidly in her chest, her vision forgotten.   
(…)  
Roland is a strong man. He wounds himself often and heals in no time so there’s no surprise that he gets released from the hospital in three days. Regina doesn’t feel too happy about it, she would prefer for him to stay in the hospital where he’s supervised all the time (she’ll have to go to work, and she’s sure he’ll sneak out of the house no matter how much she’ll ask him not to), but she’s assured that Roland will be able to recover at home.   
She’s been spending most of her time in the hospital these lasts few days, so on their way home they stop at the market. Regina asks Roland to stay in the car, but he’s not listening to her, telling her that he’s fine. Before she can say anything else, he’s out of the car and walking toward the market.  
Regina sighs.   
She finds him in the market at the candy aisle and she rolls her eyes – he’s just got released from the hospital, he has to be kidding her. He has a strange addiction towards chocolate, her son.   
“You’re kidding, right?” she asks, when she walks up to him. “Roland, you just got released from the hospital after having a surgery. There’s no way I will let you buy this,” she motions towards the chocolate.   
“Robin is here,” Roland says as if he hasn’t heard what she’s just told him. Regina frowns in confusion at that.   
“Robin?”   
“The man from the hospital,” Roland adds nonchalantly, putting a bar of chocolate into the cart.   
Regina looks around, surprised. And indeed, Robin is standing there in front of milk, dressed in a green t-shirt and jeans. She stares at the man for a moment before she turns back at Roland who’s now looking at her, curiously, mischievously even.   
“How do you know it’s him? Regina asks, arching an eyebrow.   
Roland’s eyes widen for a moment and he says too quickly, “I saw him in the hallway the other day. And you’ve told me about him.”   
His reply makes Regina frown. She did tell Roland about a stranger who was kind enough to talk with her while she was in the waiting room, but she doesn’t remember telling him the stranger’s name. But she’s been very nervous and drained emotionally, she’s probably forgotten that she’s told him that.   
“You should say hello, you know,” Roland’s voice brings her out of her thoughts.  
Regina frowns even more at his words – what the hell has gotten into him? He’s always been so protective over her, not letting any strange men get near her but here he’s now, encouraging her to go up and talk with a completely stranger from the hospital.   
“Why should I?”   
“This poor man stayed with you when you were nervous and trust me, it’s not easy to be with you and you’re over-thinking something.” Roland sasses, making Regina roll her eyes. “You should at least say hello.”  
Alright. He has a point.  
“Oh, you won’t have to do that,” Roland says suddenly, “He’s coming here.”  
“What?”  
Regina turns around quickly and finds Robin walking up to them, a sheepish, uncertain smile on his face. He stops a few steps away from them and greets her, “Hello, milady.”  
“Hi,” she replies, her heart beating rapidly in her chest for reason she doesn’t know; somehow this man makes her feel strange, giddy, excited and she doesn’t even know him.   
“It’s a pleasure to see you again,” he says, and turns to look at her son. “And you must be Roland ,right?”   
“I am. Nice to meet you, sir,” Roland replies politely, and stretches his hand out for a handshake. Robin doesn’t hesitate and claps hands with the teenager.   
Surprisingly, Regina finds herself at a loss of words. She should probably ask about his daughter and her broken arm, and she does just so.   
“Thank you, my girl is alright. She’s still in the hospital, though.” He tells them, motioning towards his cart. “Actually, I’m here buying sweet stuff to make staying in the hospital a little less miserable,” he admits, making Regina smile.  
“Well, we shouldn’t keep you, then. I’m sure someone is waiting for you,” Regina says, “It was really nice to see you again, Robin. Good luck.” She smiles one last time and turns around to walk to another aisle when he hears his sheepish question.  
“Would it be terribly inappropriate to ask you on a date?” He asks and Regina turns to face him immediately, her eyes wide and surprised as she stares at him. “I just-“ he starts stuttering, so Regina cuts him off.   
“I would love to,” she tells him, smiling at him. She doesn’t know why, she doesn’t know how, but she thinks that she knows him; for some reason she thinks that she’s finally met someone who could change her life forever.  
(…)  
Regina stops in front of a restaurant. She takes a deep inhale, wondering for the umpteenth time whether or not she did the right decision when she agreed to go on a date with Robin. He’s a man from her visions, visions which visit her more and more frequently, making her shake and gasp.   
She’s not sure if she should get involved with the man who was her soul-mate in some other life.   
“Good evening, milady.”  
A voice from behind startles her, making her turn around. Robin is standing there with a rose in his hand, a small smile on his face.  
Regina exhales – there’s no turning back now – and tries to smile despite her fears. “Good evening, Robin.”  
Robin’s smile only deepens, his dimples appearing, as he hands her the rose sheepishly, and Regina takes it from him gladly, a sincere smile spreading across her face – she doesn’t remember the last time a man has given her flowers. It was probably years ago but she’s not sure, her memory is foggy.  
“Why don’t we go inside?” Robin asks after a moment of just staring at each other, and Regina nods her head immediately, takes his hand and they both walk into the restaurant.   
Surprisingly, there is no awkward silence between them, not anymore. She doesn’t know how but they find topics to talk to about – her bar and his shop, about her sons and his daughter, about their lives and childhood, and everything, and for a brief moment, Regina feels that she already knows the man, that she already had this conversation before.  
The thought doesn’t leave her mind for the rest of the night.   
(…)  
The date was extremely successful, so Regina and Robin decided to meet up and her bar the other day – she couldn’t take another day off, her assistant deserved a break too- and neither of them was willing to wait another week to meet again.   
Regina smiles, unconsciously, when she sees Robin walk through the door of the bar at 08:15, exactly on time. Usually the bar is empty so early in the morning, only a few regulars come, so they’ll have plenty of time to talk to.   
However, her smile disappears immediately when she sees Facilier walking into the bar right after Robin. She cannot help but raise her eyebrow at the man in confusion – they’ve ended things a long while ago, her memories about him are foggy to.   
They started dating and soon she started having visions of him, too. But her visions got worse, their romance soon turned into a war between witches (Regina felt as if she was losing her mind when she started having visions of her doing magical things, pulling out heart and choking people) and she quickly broke up with him, hoping that these visions would stop.   
And they did stop, after a while.   
“Good morning, Regina,” Facilier says as he walks to the bar. Robin stops just a few feet away from them, his eyebrows knit together and Regina glances at him, managing a tight smile, before turning back to Facilier.   
Her hands tighten on the countertop of her bar, as she tries to stop the visions from torturing her because she can already feel the shiver, but she will not let that happen, she has no desire to see herself ripping out hearts.   
“What are you doing here?” she asks, arching an eyebrow at him.   
“I just came to see how you’re doing,” he tells her nonchalantly and sits down on the barstool.   
“I’m fine, as you can see,” she replies quickly. She can feel Robin’s eyes on her, piercing right through her and she bites her lip in surprise – is he jealous?   
Facilier gives her one more look before ordering glass of whiskey. Regina pours it quickly and hands it to him, and then excuses herself, walking up to Robin who’s still standing there.   
“Hi, Robin,” she greets him and he nods in greeting.  
“Can we talk somewhere more private?”   
His question surprises Regina. She frowns a bit, but looks around the bar anyway, makes sure that everyone has their drinks full before nodding her head, and leading Robin to the end of her bar.   
“What is –“ she starts to ask, turning around but before she knows it, Robin’s lips are on hers, kissing her for the first time. For some reason, she’s imagined it being sweet and slow, their first kiss, but it’s completely the opposite, and she doesn’t think she minds.   
When he pulls away from her, she’s panting for air.   
“Are you alright?” she asks in surprise.   
“Is he your ex-boyfriend?” Robin asks, putting emphasis on he, and Regina cannot help but laugh at him. She must be joking.  
“Please, don’t tell me that you’re jealous,” she says, rolling her eyes at him. They’ve met a week ago, only yesterday did they have their first real date, he cannot be jealous.  
“I am,” Robin admits, and he looks rather embarrassed. “I don’t understand what happened to me but from the day we met at the hospital, I cannot stop thinking about you. I see you everywhere, I hear your voice, I smell your perfume. I don’t have an explanation for this, all I know is that you enchanted me and I’m so jealous of that bastard.”  
Regina frowns a bit but smiles at the same time, confused but flattered (she could never think that someone being jealous over her could make her feel so confident about herself) and assures Robin, “The feeling is mutual. You’re all I see,” and then she presses her lips against his one more time.   
(…)

Their relationship progressed quite well. Robin came into her bar every morning and they’ve talked and kissed, and touched, and grew closer. The feeling that Regina’s known him already didn’t go away as didn’t her visions, but she chose to ignore it and let herself enjoy Robin’s friendship.   
Tonight Regina has a night off, and Robin suggested that maybe it’s time they introduce their children. And Regina hesitated a bit, after all, she hasn’t met Robin’s daughter herself too, but then she agreed, because whatever was happening between them was serious and there was no reason to postpone it.   
She’s prepared her classical meal – lasagna (she’s trying to impress not only Robin but his daughter too), Roland helped her to make apple turnovers, all the while mocking her that she’s became that woman who tries to impress the man.   
Regina has rolled her eyes, but admitted that indeed, when it came to Robin, she became a whole different person.   
A doorbell snaps her out of her thoughts and she wipes her hands and takes off her apron before rushing to open the door. She’s met by Robin, with yet another rose, and a girl around twelve years old standing there, her deep blue eyes meeting Regina’s immediately.   
“Good evening, milady,” Robin greets Regina as they step into her house. He walks over and pecks her lips quickly before turning back to his daughter. “Robyn, this is Regina, my friend, Regina – my daughter Robyn.”  
It’s an awkward moment between them two because Regina doesn’t know whether or not she should shake the girl’s hand or pull her into a hug – she has no experience when it comes to meeting her lovers children. She opts for a smile and a hello, and the girl returns the greeting with a smile of her own.   
The guests take off their coats and then Regina leads them to the kitchen, where Roland is already cutting the lasagna and putting it into plates.   
“Roland, this is Robyn, Robin’s daughter,” Regina tells her son when they enter the kitchen and she can see how Roland’s hand stops cutting the lasagna, his face turning into an unreadable grimace. For a moment, Regina considers whether or not he was laying when he told her that he doesn’t mind Regina dating again but then his smile breaks into a huge smile and she sighs in relief.   
Surprisingly, her son doesn’t feel awkward around his mother lovers’ children because he puts the knife on the table, wipes his hands and comes to Robyn, pulls her into a tight hug. The girl returns it, and Regina frowns in confusion, looks at Robin who seems to be just as surprised as she is.   
When the children pull away from each other, they all sit down to the table. Regina watches closely as Robin and his daughter try out her lasagna, but then she feels a shiver running down her spine, and then her visions becomes blurred, and she tries to keep herself together, she tries to stay in reality but she’s already falling.   
“Robin, you’ll burn my house down,” Regina exclaims as she walks into the kitchen and finds Robin in front of a stove, the flames so big, she actually worries about their safety.   
“I got this under control,” he insists, not even turning to look at her, his eyes transfixed on the eggs in the pan.   
Regina rolls her eyes at him – she’s had enough fun with Henry trying to surprise her with breakfast and almost setting the house on fire for a few times, she really has no desire to repeat the history. With that in mind, Regina walks up to Robin and wraps his arms around his waist, distracting him with a kiss on his neck.   
She then quickly reduces the fire turning it to the right level and then turns the pan the right way. Robin groans at that and Regina grins – sometimes he’s such a child.   
“You need to pour oil into the pan first, you know,” Regina points out, and walks to the fridge, takes the bottle of oil out and hands it to Robin. He takes her, unsatisfied but takes it anyway, and pours it, listening to Regina’s instructions.   
After a few minutes, both of them are sitting in front of the table, plates of just made omelet in front of them. Regina takes a bite, and grimaces, there’s too much salt, and she turns to Robin who’s eating the omelet as if it was the most delicious meal in the world, already telling her that next time she’ll teach him how to make her apple turn overs.   
Regina laughs and shuts him up with a kiss.   
“Regina, are you alright?”  
“Mom?”  
“Her eyes are glowing,”  
She exhales shakily as she opens her eyes and is met by three pairs of orbs staring at her. Robin’s face is worried, Roland is staring at her knowingly – he’s already used to her visions and post effects, while Robyn looks at her… curiously?   
“I’m fine,” Regina assures them, but she’s feeling sick now, her world still turning just a little bit. There’s no way on Earth she’s going to eat now. “I’ve lost my appetite. If you don’t mind, I would like to go and lay down for a bit,” she asks, feeling guilty for leaving her guests alone (so much for making an impression) but there’s no way she’ll sit through this dinner without fainting.   
Robin assures her that it’s fine, and Roland promises to entertain their guests and with that knowledge Regina stands up from the chair and walks out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into the bedroom. She collapses onto the bed and puts her hands on her face, replaying the vision in her head over and over again.   
She’s never seen herself in a real world before.   
Regina doesn’t know how long she stays in the bedroom thinking until a knock on the door snaps her out of her thoughts. She sits up a bit and finds Robin standing in the doorway, looking sheepishly at her.   
“How are you?” he asks, walking further into the room.   
“I’m better,” Regina tells him, because it’s true, she’s feeling better now that she’s had some time to calm down and put herself under control.   
“I’m glad,” Robin says as he sits down on the edge of her bed and takes her cold hand in his, kisses it, making Regina smile. “The kids are in the living room trying to decide what movie we should watch. Do you want to join or would you rather stay here?”   
“No, I want to go downstairs,” Regina says and Robin asks her one more time if she’s sure. She’ll be damned if she lets those visions stop her, so she nods her head, insisting that she’s fine now and gets out of the bed.  
When they walk into the living room, they find Roland and Robyn sitting on the carpet, both talking about something in hushed tones, but once the children see them, the conversation stops, and it looks as if they were caught doing something wrong. Regina looks at them, confused, but Robin seems oblivious to the changed atmosphere because she tugs Regina’s hand and makes her sit down on the couch, and makes himself comfortable beside her and Regina rests her head on his shoulder, and sighs, letting her eyes close as soon as the movie starts.   
(…)  
The spring blooms into the summer way too quickly, and Regina loses herself in her relationship with Robin. They don’t rush, they don’t make huge future plans, they just enjoy each other’s presence and spend time with their kids.   
Before Regina knows it, the autumn is there knocking on her door, and it’s time Roland has to leave for college. It’s not the first time her child is leaving home, Henry has gone to University in a different town too, but somehow it doesn’t lessen the heartbreak.   
So in the evening when Regina comes back home from Boston, she finds herself standing in the empty house, in Roland’s room doorway, with tears in her eyes, staring at his empty room.   
The doorbell rings and her heart starts beating like crazy in her chest, her mind immediately screaming Roland, but her son is too far away and he won’t be back until the end of the month. Swallowing down her tears, Regina walks out of Roland’s room and down the stairs to open the door.  
She finds Robin standing there in the doorway, and she cannot help herself but rush into his embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around him.   
“Oh, Regina,” he whispers into her hair, his arms wrapping around her and holding her tightly.  
She stays in his embrace for a long while, and he rocks them back and forth kissing on top of her head every few seconds.   
“I came over to check in on you,” Robin says when they pull away, “and I’m so glad that I did,” he adds and pulls her into his arms again, her head resting on his chest as tears continue to roll down her cheeks. “Let’s get out of here.” He says suddenly, making Regina pull away from him with wide eyes.   
“What?”  
“You’ll just torture yourself in here,” Robin tells her and Regina would be lying if she’s said it wasn’t true. “Let’s go to my place. Stay with me tonight. Robyn will be very excited to see you again, and I’m sure she’ll keep your mind busy.” He offers, smiling at her warmly. “We can watch a movie or play games or just sit together in silence, whatever you prefer.”  
Regina wraps her arms around him, so touched by the offer that her eyes fill with tears again.   
(…)  
When they walk into his apartment, they find Robyn sitting in front of a candle that is lit up, her wide blue eyes shining with unshed tears as she whispers over and over again, “I did it again.”   
Regina turns to look at Robin, confused, and he swallows hard before untangling his hand from hers and walking up to his daughter, wrapping her in a tight hug.   
“It’s alright, sweetie,” Robin says as the teenager starts crying. “Don’t be afraid. We’ll figure it all out.”  
Regina blinks her eyes, surprised. Did Robyn actually lit up a candle… with magic?  
She shouldn’t be surprised, after all, she’s the one who has strange visions of her past lives or whatever it is. So she swallows hard and walks further into the room, sits on the couch beside father and daughter and says, “I think I can help you, Robyn.”  
The girl pulls away from her father and looks at Regina with wide teary eyes.   
“I… have something too,” she says, feeling stupid – she’s never ever talked to him with anyone, even Roland who has to deal with aftermath of her visions only knows that she experiences dizziness. “I think I can see the past, or something like that, an alternative reality.”   
“What?” Robin asks, his voice filled with surprise.  
“I have visions, strange visions.” She tells him, shifting a bit on the couch – she hopes they’re not going to ask her what it is that she sees for she has no desire to tell Robin that she sees him as her Soulmate.   
Robyn looks at Regina confused, but now her fearful eyes looks a little bit hopeful. “Will you help me?”   
“I will try to,” Regina says and the girl nods her head before throwing herself into Regina’s arms and starting to cry again.   
(…)  
“She’s finally fell asleep,” Robin says when he walks into the living room and finds Regina sitting right where he left her. She nods her head in agreement, and then asks the question that’s been bugging her for a while now, “Aren’t you…. Disgusted of me?”   
Robin’s eyes widen. “What? No! Why would I be?”  
“I’m…. a monster?” she says, not knowing how to call herself.   
“Regina, don’t say things like that! You’re nothing like a monster! Perhaps you see those strange visions and perhaps my daughter can lit up the candle with her mind, but it doesn’t change the way I feel about you two,” he insists as he sits down beside her on the bed and wraps his arms around her again. “Please don’t even think about that.”  
Regina rests her head against his shoulder and closes her eyes, tries to believe that.   
“It’s late, maybe we should go to sleep? It’s been a rough day to all of us,” Robin suggests and she couldn’t agree more.   
Robin leads Regina to his bedroom and she would be lying if she’s said her heart wasn’t trying to jump out of her chest. They’ve been friends for a long time, they’ve kissed and touched but they’ve never been intimate, and Regina feels thrilled and anxious at the same time of the prospect of sharing the bed with Robin.   
“Nothing will change between us,” Robin assures her as if he could read her mind. Perhaps he has a superpower of his own. “I will just hold you in my arms and chase away your nightmares, nothing more.”   
Regina feels stupid for this, for not taking that one step, but she nods her head – she’s not ready, at least not today.   
She lies down on the bed as soon as they walk into the room, too drained after the day. Robin excuses himself and walks to the bathroom and Regina curls into a ball. A shiver runs down her back and she clenches her teeth – she’ll not have a vision right now, she’ll not survive it.   
She forces herself to get out of the bed and walks to his closet, looking around for something warm to put on. She cannot find anything expect a sweater so she takes the green one and puts it over her dress before returning back to the room.   
The shivering stops and Regina sighs, lets her eyes close again.   
“Would you like to share a blanket?” she hears Robin’s voice in her ear and she nods her head sleepily, feels a blanket being thrown over her and then strong arms wrap around her, keeping her warm for the rest of the night.   
It turns out to be the best sleep she’s had in a really long time.   
(…)  
The other day Robin leaves the two girls alone while he goes to work. Regina makes breakfast for Robyn but the girl surprises Regina by walking up with a cup in her hands, a cup which she puts on the table in front of Regina.   
“I made this for you,” the girl says nonchalantly and sits in front of Regina, thanks for the pancakes.   
“What is it?” Regina asks, confused.  
“Drink it.”  
Regina frowns. She looks at the cup and the liquid in it looks like a tea. She glances at Robyn but the girl is concentrated on her pancakes. Gingerly Regina brings the cup to her lips and takes a small, testing sip. It seems like a simple tea, perhaps a little bit too sweet, so Regina takes another sip.   
A shiver runs down her spine as a cup drops from her hands, shattering against the floor and everything becomes dark.   
“Don’t!” she hears a scream behind herself and she stops immediately, startled. She stumbles a little and then someone – a certain thief – is grabbing her by her wrist and pulling her off the balcony.   
“Let go of me,” She exclaims as she tries to shake his hands away from her but he doesn’t let go, only tightens his grip around her until she stops struggling and looks into his eyes. His blue orbs are wide and worried, his hand still wrapped tightly around her wrist.   
“Don’t do that,” Robin asks, staring straight into her eyes.   
“Why?” Regina asks, sarcastically. “I have nothing, no one to live for.”  
Robin swallows hard, “I love you.”  
What?  
“I love you, Regina. You may not see what I see in you, but there’s light deep within you, there’s a bright future in front of you. Only if you would let yourself believe that, only if you would give yourself a chance,” Robin trails off before leaning over and pulling Regina into a kiss.  
She widens her eyes at him, they’ve ended their arrangement the day Regina figured out he was the man with the lion tattoo, and he has no right to touch her now but Regina cannot find it in herself to push him away.   
No matter how much her traitorous mind tries to tell her otherwise, with every sweet and loving kiss Regina lets herself believe more and more that maybe, just maybe Robin will be the one who will help her see the light…  
Regina gasps in shock as she stares at Robyn, at Zelena and Robin’s daughter. Oh God! She remembers now, she remembers everything! Those strange visions weren’t visions at all, it were memories, memories of her past, her childhood, her life.  
She’s the Evil Queen.  
Regina Mills.   
Oh my God!  
“Welcome back, aunt Regina,” Robyn says, smiling at her sweetly and Regina’s eyes widen. “Roland will be so glad to hear that it worked, that you’re awake!” the girl exclaims and Regina shakes her head in disbelief – all she remembers is Henry driving off to his out adventure and then it’s all dark.   
What the hell happened?  
When did Robyn, Roland and Henry grow up?  
Where was she this whole time?  
“Robyn,” Regina finally lets out and the girl jumps from the chair and runs towards her aunt. Her little arms wrap tightly around Regina and the woman feels tears collecting in her eyes – the girl Regina couldn’t imagine loving just saved her.   
“It was Roland’s plan for me to break an arm when he started having pains,” she tells Regina proudly.  
“What?!”  
“He told me to fake a pain so papa would have to take me to the hospital and meet you but instead I fell down the tree and it worked!” She explains, Regina’s eyes widening in horror – her niece is crazy.   
“You cannot hurt yourself like that,” she tells the girl disapprovingly, but Robyn doesn’t seem to mind, she only sits on the chair beside Regina. “Do you know who did that, I mean who cursed us? And how is your father… alive? How are you awake?” she asks, tears collecting in her eyes. Gods, Robin was dead and now he’s alive.  
“The other you did the curse.” Robyn reveals. “We met in the Enchanted Forest and the other you and my other daddy said they knew how to bring my real papa back!” She says excitedly. “You had to sacrifice all of your memories of him. Everything. And make him fall in love with you again. The other you said it will break the curse. But Roland and Henry didn’t give up on trying to find a solution how to wake up both up before you two fall in love. And Henry traveled to the Forest and brought this. However, my magic was not strong enough to make two potions. So we decided to wake you up first.”   
Regina exhales, confusion written all over her face. This story sounds believable, the Queen has promised to bring Robin back one day, but she didn’t think that it would actually happen. It turns out she succeeded.  
“So you and Roland knew each other before Robin and I met again?” she asks, trying to put everything together.  
“No!” Robyn shakes her head. “I’ve only seen Henry. The first time I met Roland was at your house. We talked over the phone.”   
“Are you joking?” Regina asks, raising an eyebrow – it all feels surreal.   
“Not at all, auntie Regina,” the girl seems insulted by Regina’s hesitation.  
“So the Queen brought me my Robin…” Regina says more to herself than to her niece, still finding it hard to believe.   
“She and my other daddy brought him to us!”  
Regina opens her mouth to ask where her mother, Zelena, is but then she hears the front door being opened and someone walks in. Robyn quickly jumps off the chair and rushes to see who’s there, it takes Regina a little bit longer to stand up as shaken as she is.   
“Daddy!”  
Robyn’s scream puts Regina into moving and she rushes to the hall, finds Robin against the door, his face as white as a paper, his eyes teary. He looks like he’s going to throw up any moment.   
“Robin, what happened?” Regina asks, trying to fight the urge and not to run into his arms immediately, and cry for a long while that he’s real and that he’s back.   
“I don’t feel well,” He manages, breathing deeply.  
No shit.   
“Let’s go to the hospital,” Regina says, already reaching for the keys of the car but he’s shaking his head.   
“No!”  
“Why?”  
“I will not go to the hospital,” he insists stubbornly, like a child. “Over my dead body.”  
“Robin!” Regina exclaims in disbelief.   
“No! I will be fine. Just… help me get to the bed and lie down for a bit,” he asks and Robyn glances at Regina worriedly but then she’s rushing off to her dad, taking his hand in hers.  
Regina groans but walks over to him too, lets him wrap his arm around her and then drags him to the bedroom.  
Once he’s laying on the bed, she touches his forehead and gasps, “Robin, you’re burning!”  
“I’ll be fine. I just need to sleep.” He insists, rolling onto his side and closing his eyes.   
Regina stands in front of him for solid fifteen minutes until he finally starts to snore and she leaves the room, goes to talk with her niece.   
Regina storms into the chamber, her hands shaking at her sides. She's just heard that Robin's been injured and she's stopped doing whatever she was going and went to see what the hell has happened.   
As much as she tried to deny it, she cared about the thief.   
Robin is laying on a huge bed in the middle of a chamber, a few merry men walking around him anxiously, their faces turned into the anxious expressions which make Regina's heart clench.   
Gods.  
"What happened?" She asks, her voice quiet but uncharacteristically anxious. She walks further into the room to his bed and gasps when she sees Robin's stomach - there's a black circle around his navel, right where the arrow has hit him.   
The curse, she realizes with a sinking feeling.   
The merry men all look at her with wide eyes, waiting for her to stay something, after all she's the only one in this room who deals with magic, black magic.   
Regina doesn't know what to say. She stares at them for a moment, and then shakes her head, whispers that she doesn't know, she doesn't know what will happen to Robin but she'll do everything in her power to help him.   
With that, she waves her hand up in the air and disappears.  
(...)   
When Regina appears in the library, Belle gasps in surprise, dropping the books she's been holding. The younger woman looks alarmed for a moment - and who wouldn't be, if the woman who kept you a prisoner for years suddenly appears in your safe haven.   
"What are you doing here?" Belle manages, kneeling down to the ground to collect the fallen books.  
"Robin's been cursed." She says simply and walks past the girl and to the book shelf. She knows that there has to be a book about curses somewhere in here.   
"What?" Belle gasps in shock. "When did that happen?"  
"Today," Regina says dismissively and Belle is nodding her head immediately, walking up to the shelves too and turning to Regina.  
"Alright. So we need to start looking for a cure," Belle says, and Regina rolls her eyes, as if she didn't know that already. "I'm going to look from the other side so it will be faster," she tells and this time Regina turns to look at Belle, surprised.   
"You're going to help me?" She asks in disbelief.   
"It's not you I'm helping. It's Robin. And he's my friend, I will not let him die." She says, determination clear in her voice and then she's turning around and walks to the other side of the room.  
Regina would be lying if she's said she didn't feel thankful.  
(...)  
It's after the midnight when Regina walks into the chamber with Belle following behind her, holding a heavy book in her hands. The spell is already prepared, Regina needs to only whisper an enchantment and make Robin drink a potion which has her -his soulmate's- blood in it.   
Regina doesn't like Belle, she really does not, but she feels better now that she's not alone in this, that someone was willing to help with something as important as this.   
Regina sits at the edge of Robin's bed and takes his warm, feverish hand in hers, strokes it as she stares into his ill body, tears collecting at the corners of her eyes.   
She cannot lose him.   
Belle hands her the book and Regina takes the potion, murmurs the words under her nose and waves her hand over the liquid until it’s glowing.   
She makes Robin drink it, and he, even in his feverish and weak state, grimaces at the taste. She smiles at that a bit - it's better than nothing, even a simple grimace after a curse like this is an achievement.   
"Robin, listen to me," she says quietly, her hand squeezing his. "Don't you dare to leave me, alright? You have to wake up and raise your son. You have to wake up and lead your men. You have to wake up and annoy the hell out of me," her voice breaks at the last words, and she lets a few tears roll down her cheeks.   
She quickly composes herself, though, and turns over her shoulder to look at Belle, who's standing there behind her, her own eyes full of tears.   
"Thank you," Regina whispers, her voice too weak to say the words out loud.   
"You're welcome," she returns, resting her hand over Regina's shoulder and smiling warmly.   
They're not enemies anymore. They are friends.   
(...)  
Neither of them leaves Robin's side. They stay with him during the night and day, wiping his burning forehead with a wet cloth, holding his hand when nightmares or hallucinations come, talking to him even though he cannot hear them.  
It seems that things are only getting worse and Regina shakes her head sadly whenever a merry man asks her out Robin but then on the fourth day, Robin wakes up.  
(…)  
He feels like he's been dead. Every part of his body feels heavy and aching. Despite that, he forces his eyes to open, and for a moment everything is turning and moving, and he tries to sit up in vain.  
He lets his eyes close, and just breathes for a moment, tries to remember what the hell has happened.   
All he remembers is Regina's face. He remembers her dark eyes shining, her worried face staring at him as she called his name, he remembers her gasp when the world started turning around him. And then it's all black.   
He opens his eyes again and this time his vision is more clear, the ceiling above him no longer turning. Taking a deep inhale, Robin groans and tries to get up, sore muscles protesting with every move.   
He manages to sit up, still a little unsteady but at least now he can look around the chamber.   
The hard wooden door open and Robin squints his eyes, tries to see the figure in the doorway. Someone lets out a surprised gasp, and Robin knows that voice, he would recognize his friend anywhere.   
"Robin! You're awake," Belle exclaims, as she rushes towards the bed, her voice filled with surprise. "Gods, you need to lie down," she demands as she approaches him and helps him lie down despite his protests.   
"What happened?" He asks, his voice groggy and so foreign. He coughs a little, and Belle's warm palm rests on his forehead.   
A smile breaks onto her face, "The fever is gone! Gods, Robin, you scared us so much" she adds as she sits down on the bed beside him. "You've been sick for the whole week. We thought we would lose you. But Regina... she saved you," she whispers and Robin closes her eyes.   
He remembers through his blurry memory that she's been here and she's been talking with him, and that she's been worried. The Queen's been worried about him.  
She cares about him.   
It doesn't matter that she pretends to hate him. Deep down, she feels something too.   
Robin wakes up, disoriented, confused. He looks around the room, and realizes that he's back in his apartment, in his bedroom, in his own bed, not some mysterious and dark medieval chamber with a woman whose name is Belle.  
He must be hallucinating. 

"How are you feeling?" Regina's voice snaps him out of his mind and he blinks his eyes a few times before turning to her, still confused by that strange dream.   
"I'm... I'm feeling better." He says, his throat sore, but he does feel better.   
"I'm glad," Regina tells him, smiling sweetly. "I was worried for a moment here, you know." She adds, shifting on the bed and moving a little bit closer.   
"Regina, you shouldn't," he tries to stop her; as much as he would like to hold her in his arms, they really don’t need her to get sick either. But she doesn't seem to care because she moves closer to him, and rests her head against his chest.   
He shouldn't fall asleep, he just woke up but he feels so weak, so drained that he lets his eyes close, lets himself rests just for a little bit longer.   
The last thing he hears is Regina's whispered, "For a moment, I could I would lose you again," as she clutches him closer but he’s too sleepy to say something in return.   
“Put it down,” Robin exclaims as he walks into the room and finds Regina sitting on her bed, with a knife in her hand. She’s been on a mission to hurt herself these days, jumping in front of fireballs and flying monkeys, accidentally or not so falling off her horse or down the stairs.  
Robin thinks she’s trying to end her life and this proves that.   
Her wrists are clean but the knife is held with an aim and there’s no way on Earth he will let her do that.   
“You don’t order me what to do,” She says, dismissively.  
“I will not let you hurt yourself.”  
“I’m not asking for permission.”  
Exhaling, Robin takes a step closer to her, then another, watches her as she watches the knife at her hands, ready to slit her wrists open. When he’s close enough, he grabs the knife from her hands and she growls in anger, her face turning red as she starts to say something, but he shuts her up with the kiss, holding those wrists she wanted to cut in his hands until she stops fighting and accepts his kiss, and gives up on trying to hurt herself.  
“This cannot happen again, do you hear me?” he asks before pressing his lips against her again and she doesn’t agree but at least tonight she’ll not harm herself. Robin will make sure of it.   
(...)  
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Regina asks in the morning as she places a cup of tea in front of him. Robin tightens the robe around himself – he’s still feverish, still sick – in order to stay warm and takes the tea into his cold palms.   
“I will,” he assures her, flattered that she’s so worried about him. “You can go to the bar, I’ll be fine,” he tells her, taking a sip of a wonderful warm tea. “Robyn will be back home soon, she’ll make sure I’ll stay in bed, trust me,” he smiles a bit at that, thinking that his daughter is really bossy.  
“If you’re sure,” Regina looks at him doubtfully, but then walks up to him and pecks his lips quickly. “I’ll come here later to check in on you,” she adds before she’s taking her purse and walking out of his apartment.   
Robin finishes drinking the tea as fast as possible and doesn’t even bother to clean the cup, instead he rushes back to his room, ready to hide under the covers for the rest of the day, hoping that he’ll feel better tomorrow.  
However, when he walks into his bedroom, he frowns. There’s a paper on the bed, a paper that most definitely wasn’t there before. Frowning in confusion, Robin walks closer to the bed and takes the page, looks at it closely.  
There’s a woman and a man in the page, kissing. He must be still hallucinating because for a moment Robin thinks that the woman could be Regina from his vision with her long hair and the man… the man could be him. Robin scoffs at that thought and looks down at the corner of the page, finds twenty three written there.   
Twenty three is his lucky number.   
Confused, he puts the piece of paper on the nightstand, and falls onto the bed, curling under the covers; he hopes these strange hallucinations will disappear soon.   
(…)  
“Robin, you really don’t have to do it,” Regina insists when she looks at him. Of course, Regina got sick as soon as Robin got better and now she’s laying curled up under her blanket and Roland just texted her with too many typos asking to be picked up after a party at his friends’.   
Even the idea of getting out of the bed makes Regina shiver so Robin offered to bring Roland home.   
“I don’t mind,” he assures her, leaning over to peck her feverish forehead. “I’m happy to help,” he insists as he takes the keys from the coffee table in the middle of the living room. “You stay here, we will be back soon.”  
In twenty minutes, Roland is sitting in Robin’s car, too drunk to speak properly. Robin grins at himself – this child is having the time of his life even though he’s going to die from headache in the morning.   
“You know, you’re my father,” Roland says when the hit the road.  
“Roland, you’re really drunk, but you do recognize me, right?” Robin asks, confused.  
“I do,” Roland assures. “And you’re my father. And Regina’s awake now, we will wake you up too. But you could help us by falling in love with her, you know.”  
“Roland, I think you’re hallucinating. How much have you drank?”  
“She… You have to love her as much as you loved her before, you have to be willing to die for her again to wake up, dad.” Roland insists, but when Robin doesn’t say anything back, he just huffs in frustration and turns to look out of the window.   
When Robin stops the car in Regina’s yard, a shiver runs down his spine, his vision becoming blurred and he already knows what is going to happen now.   
“Hello, Robin.”  
Robin sits up in the bed, confused when he hears her sultry voice and then there’s a sound of heavy footsteps. He sees Regina’s silhouette not a second later and she falls onto his bed, and moves up until she’s laying beside a very surprised Robin.   
“Milady, what are you doing here?” he asks, surprised.  
“I came here to fuck you,” she tells, and she can barely speak, she’s that drunk.   
“What?” Robin asks, surprised. The woman who hated him, who threatened to burn him alive is now in his room, drunk, and telling him that.   
“Oh, don’t be shy, thief,” she rolls her eyes, and tries to sit up and it seems that she’s a little bit too drunk to do that now.   
“Regina,-“ Robin starts but she cuts him off by putting her finger against his lips, shushing him.   
“Do you know why I didn’t kill myself that night?” she asks, and Robin wants to ask which night because she’s tried to do that too many times to count now but she is continuing, not letting him interrupt, “I didn’t kill myself because I wanted to take you to bed first. I wanted to die right after that. Seemed like a pretty great death.”  
“Oh my Gods,” Robin cannot help but laugh at her. “You’re talking non-sense.”  
“Am I?” she asks, and she tries to sit up again but fails. “That’s true. I heard the maids talking about you the other day, about your arms, about your great ass, everything, and you have no idea how jealous I got.”   
“You’re drunk,” Robin says, a huge smile appearing on his face – she’ll be so embarrassed tomorrow if she remembers any of this for the great and scary Evil Queen wouldn’t even let him touch her and now she’s admitting this.   
For a few moments they lay in silence, and then Robin hears her quiet snore and he calls her name, once, twice and when he’s sure she’s asleep, he rolls onto his side, facing her and lets himself fall asleep too.   
This is the first time the Queen shares his bed.  
Robin opens his eyes, and turns to look to a sleeping Roland. He swallows hard, pushes the vision away and gets out of the car, pulling the sleeping Roland with himself and dragging him home.  
(…)  
It takes two weeks and Robin cannot take it anymore. These visions are going to end him, it scares the hell out of him – it’s nothing when he sees himself and Regina but when he sees her pulling out hearts, when he sees himself stabbing people, when he sees himself expecting baby with her sister, it drives him crazy.   
It makes no sense, those visions, but Regina’s said she was having them too. And without any idea what to do, Robin blames them on Regina.   
He was fine before she appeared, he was living with his daughter happily and then he met her and everything turned upside down. She ruined his life.   
So when Regina walks into his apartment tonight with donuts, a huge smile on her face, Robin doesn’t kiss her, he doesn’t smile.   
He has to break up with her.   
“Robin, are you alright?” Regina asks, confused, as she puts the box of donuts on the table, her smile disappearing.   
“Maybe we were a mistake,” Robin whispers, feeling tears collecting in his eyes.  
“What? Robin, what happened?” Regina asks, her voice shaking, showing her confusion.  
“We should break up, Regina. It’s over.”  
“Robin, please, tell me what’s happened.”  
“I… I’m not interested in you anymore,” he lies and can see just how much the words hurt her, how she inhales shakily, tears collecting in her eyes instantly.  
He’s a bastard.   
But he cannot stay with her.  
He needs those visions to end.  
“I love you!” Regina exclaims, the words she has never said before. “Robin, I love you so much! You are my life. You are my future.”  
“But I’m not sure you’re mine,” he tells, and it’s breaking his heart, his own eyes fill with tears but he forces himself to stay calm, to think, to remember why he’s doing that.   
“Robin, I-“ she trails off, tears now running her cheeks. “I… You mean so much to me. Life without you was colorless, empty but now, you made me believe and changed me and for the first time in a long time, I could imagine a future where I was happy. You make me feel happy,” she says the word as if happiness is foreign to her.  
“It’s over, Regina.” He says, turning around, away from her.  
His own heart breaks into million pieces as he hears her cry and she turns around and rushed out of his apartment, shutting the door after herself with a loud thud.   
He’s a bastard.   
(…)  
“You made me a cake?” Roland gasps in surprise, looking at Regina. Robin is standing in the doorway, watching the two interact.   
A smile spreads across Regina’s face as she nods. “I did. It is your birthday! I had to surprise and reward my best knight,” she tells him and Roland beams at her.   
“Is it a chocolate cake?” Roland asks, and Regina nods again. “And it’s all for me?” his eyes widen in disbelief.  
“It is,” Regina assures him.   
Robin smiles when his son throws himself into Regina’s embrace, telling her that he loves her. It’s funny how both son and father fell for one woman who is still trying to figure out what kindness is.   
The visions don’t leave Robin.   
They torture him, showing him the craziest scenarios, making him wake up in the middle of the night sweaty and confused and scared, and wishing for all of this to end.  
(…)  
It’s been three weeks since Robin and Regina have broken up when Robin sees Regina’s son Henry standing on his porch. The young man looks worried, and there’s Roland in the distance, and he was supposed to be in college, and Robin has a feeling that something is very wrong.   
“Hi, Robin, I’m Henry,” the man introduces himself but he doesn’t have to because Robin has seen plenty of his photos. Robin greets him, shakes hands and looks at him in confusion. “You must be surprised to see me but… Mom’s gone. She’s been not herself these last few weeks and now… now she’s gone.”  
Robin’s eyes widen.  
“I know you want to know nothing about her, after all you broke up, but… maybe you know where she is?”   
“I… I have no idea,” Robin stutters, shocked.  
“Oh, alright,” Henry replies, worriedly.  
“When did she leave?” Robin asks, and at this moment his visions mean nothing, all he cares about is the woman he loves, Regina.   
“Yesterday evening. She said she’ll take a walk and… she never came back home.”  
“Oh my God!” Robin exclaims. It’s been snowing all night and the weather is freezing. What if something happened to her?  
“I’m sorry for disturbing you, we will go to look for her somewhere else,” Henry says, turning around but Robin stops him with a simple sentence.   
“I’ll help.”  
(…)  
“Roland, I said get down,” Robin demands, his hands on his hips as he stares at his child who crosses his little arms over his chest with a pout, and Robin has a hard time pretending that he’s mad. His son is hilarious. “Roland, get down,” Robin repeats, trying to keep his voice stern.  
“No!” The boy exclaims, “I will not leave this tree until Regina will not show up.”  
Robin sighs, and swallows hard, before looking at his boy again, “Regina needs some time alone. You have to understand that. When you’re sad, you don’t want to see me too, right? So now Regina is sad and she really really would like to be left alone,” Robin insists, recalling how she shouted on him this morning.   
The boy doesn’t seem to listen to his words, only moves his arms over his chest and sits in the tree, showing no signs that he’ll get down soon.   
Robin groans.   
And then from the corner of his eyes he sees her, Regina, walking towards them. She’s dressed in black, as always, her face so sad, it breaks Robin’s heart. She approaches them and fakes a smile, turns to look at Roland.   
“So I’ve heard a certain knight refuses to get out of the tree.”  
“Regina!” Roland exclaims, clapping his hands, a huge smile appearing on his face.   
“Now that I am here, will you climb down? Your shouts are annoying me,” she tells him, but there’s a smile on her face and Robin doubts that it’s true.   
“I… I can’t,” Roland says suddenly, his face alarmed.   
“Why?”  
“I’m afraid,” he whispers in horror, and his face turning white.   
Regina laughs, waves her hand up in the air and the tree is bowed down so Roland can jump off of it onto the ground safely.   
“Thank you, Regina!” The boy hugs her happily, his little arms wrapping around her tightly.   
She smiles at him and before they know it, the boy is running towards the merry men, asking everyone if they’ve seen how the Queen helped him to climb down the tree.  
Robin turns to look at Regina then, whose face is sad again, her eyes no longer shining that Roland’s is nowhere to be seen. She doesn’t have to pretend anymore.   
“I’m sorry that you have to leave your chambers,” Robin apologizes taking a step towards her, resting his hand on her lower back testily. When she doesn’t push him away, he pulls her closer and she rests her head against his shoulder, admits, “You make me see the light, Robin, you and Roland are the reason why I exist now.”  
Robin only tightens his hold around her and whispers that he loves her very much.   
(…)  
“I think I see her,” Roland exclaims and points to the bench. There’s definitely someone and before Robin knows it, he’s running towards the bench, Henry and Roland running right beside him.  
They reach the bench in record time and there’s indeed a person, a person that is Regina and her lips are purple, her eyes closed. She’s asleep on a damned bench in the winter.  
“She’s freezing!” Robin exclaims, touching her forehead. Roland and Henry make her sit down, and she groans in protest but her groan is so quiet, it scares Robin even more. He quickly takes off his coat and wraps it around her freezing body before he turns to her sons, “We have to be quick, guys,” he says and they nod and he quickly takes her into his arms while Roland and Henry rushes back to the car to find something to warm her up.   
“You’ll not die, Regina,” Robin whispers into her hair as he carries her to the car. “You’ll not die today.”  
(…)  
Robin sits down on the armchair beside the bed and touches Regina’s hand which is not so cold anymore. Her lips are still a bit purple and Robin wonders for the umpteenth time this day whether or not they did the right decision by bringing her home instead of a hospital.   
“Thank you for the help,” Henry says, when he sits down on the edge of the bed, taking Regina’s other hand in his. “I know that you two have broken up but… can I ask why? I mean it seemed that you were meant to be together.”  
Robin swallows hard and admits, “I started having visions. Of her. Of Roland. Of myself. In some strange place, I see things that are beyond reality and … they terrify me. She pulls out hearts, I kill people, Roland loves her unconditionally.”  
“So you’re remembering.”   
“What?”  
“Would you believe me, if I told you that your visions were true? Would you believe me, if I told you that Roland is your son and you loved my mother?” Henry asks with an arched eyebrow. Robin frowns. “That’s what I’ve thought,” the man says, but he doesn’t seem sad by Robin’s reply. “One day you will be believe me.”  
Robin cannot take it anymore, he feels like he’s going to lose his mind if he stays here for another moment, so he excuses himself and rushes out of the apartment, not being able to understand what the hell is happening with him and all of those people.  
(…)  
The winter turns into spring, days become longer and longer, and visions become more frequent, more real and even more scary. Robin shuts himself in his shop, tries to avoid meeting Regina, tries to stop thinking about her but she never leaves his mind.   
He misses her. He misses her so much, even the thought of her has him aching, wanting to hold her in his arms and kiss her and love her.  
Henry has called him a few days later after they’ve found her almost frozen, told him that she was fine, sick, but fine, and Robin felt better but there was still something missing, something missing in his heart.   
He sees her on the bridge today and for a few minutes he just stares at her, mesmerized by her beauty, by the shadow around her. She’s perfect, his Regina, and after all these months Robin has finally realized that she’s worth the fight, he’s finally realized that he can suffer these visions if she’ll be by his side.  
He’s just not sure if she wants him anymore.   
But he has nothing to lose so he walks up to her, muttering a sheepish, “Hello, milady.”   
She’s startled by him, must have been lost in thoughts, so she turns at him with wide surprised eyes but quickly recovers and greets him back with a ,”Hello, Robin.”   
He doesn’t know what to say, so he stands beside her on the bridge, watching the water for awhile until he finally whispers, “Regina, I’m so sorry for what I did to you. You’ve been a light in my life, you’ve been everything but those visions… They scared the hell out of me, they confused me, and I blamed them on you and I just…. Wanted it to stop.”  
“It’s not my fault,” she replies with a shrug, not looking at him. “That night you broke me, Robin. I’m an unbreakable woman, but you’ve been dead and brought back and I was ready to sacrifice everything for you and you told me you didn’t want me anymore. I… I just couldn’t believe that after all this time you stopped loving me.”  
Robin inhales shakily as he tries to process the information. He’s not as afraid about it as he was before; he’s met with Henry a few times, has asked the man to tell him more about this life he keeps remembering and as hard as it is to believe it, he thinks that he does.   
“That night… that night my life collapsed,” she admits, “I never said ‘I love you’ to you. I was always afraid but that night I found the courage, I thought that it would change your mind, I thought that you, even cursed, loved me enough. And then I said i loved you one more time in case it would change your mind. It didn’t work. You didn’t want me anymore.”  
“I’m sorry,” Robin says, standing in front of her with his head bowed down. He feels so ashamed of himself, and even though he does not remember everything, he knows that they’ve lived this life together, that they were supposed to be together but Robin was too scared to fight his own demons and simply let her go.  
“I don’t remember what happened between us,” he says then, determined, yet unsure, “But what I do remember is that I loved you. I loved you so much that I gave up my life for you.” Regina looks at him with teary eyes, and she opens her mouth to stay something, but nothing comes out, so she presses her lips together and stares at him.  
“Robin, it’s-“  
Robin quickly pulls out the ring Roland has given him this morning – it’s still so strange to refer to the young man as his son but they’re communicating now, both Henry and Roland are trying to help Robin remember.   
“Roland told me that I was going to propose to you. Before going on some crazy trip, I gave the ring to him and made him promise to keep it safe until I return. He said I died right after that,” Robin grimaces at his own words, too stunned to believe this whole story. But the visions, the visions he keeps having whenever Regina or Roland or Henry or Robyn are around, makes him believe it. As crazy as it sounds.   
This time Regina is not able to hold back her tears and she presses her hand over her mouth, a sob escaping her as she squeezes her eyes shut. It breaks Robin’s heart to see her like this, but it also proves to him just how much she actually loves him; it proves to him how much he means to her.   
It gives him hope that maybe, just maybe she’ll agree to try again.  
“Perhaps I died before I got to propose to you. But I’m alive now and strong and not ready to let you go anytime soon, so,” he gets on one knee in front of her, making her gasp in surprise as more tears roll down her cheeks. To be honest, he doesn’t know what he’s doing , he didn’t plan to propose to her, damn it, he didn’t even think he’ll meet her but now that she’s standing in front of him, he does what his heart tells him to do. “I don’t have a speech prepared, but… You’re my future, Regina, I know that. I take everything I’ve said to you that night back. I will apologize for the rest of my life if it means that one day you’ll forgive me. Please, just… give me one last chance. Marry me.”  
She starts crying even harder at that, shaking her head and then nodding and then she’s pulling Robin up from the ground and pulling him into a hug, their wet cheeks touches, tears mingling, hands wrapping tightly around each other and holding, their lips touching.  
All of a sudden, fireworks explode over them, and it makes Regina tighten her arms around his neck, holding him tighter, closer, and Robin does the same, and with every kiss, with every explode in the sky his mind becomes clearer and clearer.  
With the last explosion and kiss, Robin’s memories return.


End file.
